Gael Fickou pounces late to break England hearts

Absolutely stunning. With just two minutes remaining Gael Fickou snatched victory for France with a try that was converted by Maxime Machenaud. It was heartbreaking for England, who had recovered from 16-3 down and led for much of the second half.

It was a truly magnificent match and for England there was a performance of quite world-class proportions from Billy Vunipola at No?8, Danny Care was all devil and threat at scrum-half, Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchbury were imperious as a lock pairing and Owen Farrell had one of his finest Tests. Debutant centre Luther Burrell scored and new wing Jack Nowell had his problems but definitely has something.

But. They still lost. For France Louis Picamoles was a mountain, Bernard Le Roux made a huge amount of tackles and Yannick Nyanga often showed his class, and they had pace and finishing class outside.

They had begun in heaven, scoring after just 33 seconds. Poor Nowell dropped his first touch in Test rugby at the kick-off and France moved the ball right. Jules Plisson tried to kick through, but it did not go where he intended, ricocheting off Billy Twelvetrees's leg. As ever, that caused indecision in the defence and Mike Brown dithered just long enough for Yoann Huget to take the ball, even if it did bobble off his body at first. He was clear and France were in front, although Jean-Marc Doussain missed the conversion.

England responded with vigour, with Vunipola and Jonny May to the fore, and a penalty resulted. Farrell made no mistake. Sadly, though, May was injured, breaking his nose, and made an early exit. Alex Goode appeared at full-back, with Brown shifting to left wing.

Doussain kicked a penalty to make it 8-3, and England spurned a golden opportunity to use a turnover after Brice Dulin had dropped a high ball under pressure from Nowell. The ball was transferred left quickly but Twelvetrees chose to kick. Ground was made, but a chance was missed.

Armed with a similar opportunity soon afterwards France did rather more, scoring their second try. Tom Wood lost the ball in contact and France went right, where Huget skinned Goode on the outside. Goode did eventually manage to take hold of Huget, but he had made ground and his hands were free to pass inside to Dulin.

The full-back kicked ahead and was body-checked by Brown. That could have been a penalty, but it did not matter. The bounce was cruel and neither Goode nor Nowell could lay a hand on the ball. Huget was following up eagerly and gleefully took the ball for his second score.

It was 13-3, and that soon became 16-3 when Doussain added another penalty. But not before there had been an almighty scrap, the type of which used to be commonplace in these contests.

That is probably not true actually, because punches might have been landed in the old days. That the game is more sanitised is no bad thing, but there was certainly considerable anger amongst the French because of a Wood tackle on Plisson. It did not look good, but the truth was that Plisson slipped, and that most excellent of referees, Nigel Owens, dealt with the matter calmly and sensibly. He said a few words of caution, and the game moved on.

Now England simply had to score if they were to stay in the game. And they had Care to thank for doing so. Awarded a penalty in front of the posts that would have to be kicked at most times in most Tests, Care recognised the desperation of the situation and set off with a quick tap. He made ground, and when he was tackled, Dylan Hartley acted as an emergency scrum-half. His pass was poor, hitting the ground before it found a team-mate. But it actually worked well, and the ball ended up with Billy Vunipola in space on the right.

He fed Brown but there was still work to do. He stepped inside Huget, but there were still the attentions of Alexandre Flanquart, Pascal Pape and Doussain with which to deal. Brown did superbly to finish, and scored. Farrell missed the touchline conversion, and was also wide with a dropped-goal attempt as England finished the half with a strong attack. But it was still France who led 16-8.

England made a stunning start to the second half. Farrell set Brown free down the left with a delightful pass, and then there were several ferocious carries from Vunipola and Lawes, as well as some slick hands from Twelvetrees.

Care lunged for the line, but was just short; it did not really require television confirmation. But England had been awarded a penalty anyway, and Farrell landed it to make it 16-11.

And then. Burrell suddenly scored, after the indefatigable Vunipola, set up by Farrell, made a break up the middle. The No?8 slipped the pass to the shaven-headed centre and he was clear. Farrell added the conversion and England were ahead by 18-16.

It was end-to-end stuff now. Wesley Fofana escaped down the right and was prevented from scoring only by a stupendous tackle from Twelvetrees. Then Vunipola made one of the hits of the season on Nyanga. And if that was not enough for that passage of play, Care charged down in his own half and was very nearly clear when he knocked on well inside France's half.

Next Care picked something else from his party bag. England pressure had resulted in another penalty advantage, so Care knew that he had a shot to nothing in front of the posts with a drop kick. It was scruffy-looking but it had just enough elevation. England were now 21-16 up.

But then came some mistakes. An overthrow by replacement hooker Tom Youngs, and a poor scrummage that led to a penalty. Doussain landed it to make the score 19-21.

Farrell was incapacitated with cramp by that time, and so Goode took over the kicking duties to make it 24-19. But then came Fickou's stunner.