This was a record belting. A dismal day in the history of English rugby. England fell to their biggest ever defeat at Twickenham, tortured by France and tossed into a sporting dungeon.
It was total humiliation. As Steve Borthwick trudged down from his coaching box after the final whistle, the fans that remained watched on in stunned silence. There were no words to sum up their state of shock.
Individually and collectively, England lost every battle. The forwards were pulverised to the extent that the debate about who should be wearing the No 10 shirt barely got going.
France were majestic. Antoine Dupont was the chief tormentor, as his side blitzed their way to a humbling victory. It was a huge statement before they host the World Cup later this year, while England looked like a team who will struggle to get out of the group stages.
Ellis Genge led his players into Twickenham with a defiant trudge, hands in the pockets of his tracksuit. France, in contrast, looked the part as they arrived in tailored suits and ties. Dressed to the nines, as you would expect from a team built in the image of Fabien Galthie.
England suffered their worst ever defeat at Twickenham losing 10-53 to France in the Six Nations as Les Bleus run seven past the home side
Freddie Steward scored the only try for England in a scrappy performance that saw England concede too many of errors
It was a tough day at the office for captain Ellis Genge, who lead England out for the first time in place of Owen Farrell
And they took their swagger onto the pitch. They pounced on England’s inaccuracy at the ruck from the start, with Gael Fickou pinching the ball from Jack van Poortvliet’s grasp. England instantaneously resorted to their kicking game and France responded with a silky counter attack.
Romain Ntamack claimed the predictable box kick and ran the ball back. Charles Ollivon offloaded to Thibaud Flament, who offloaded to Ethan Dumortier before Thomas Ramos applied the finishing touch to score after 106 seconds.
Before kick-off, All Blacks coaches Ian Foster and Joe Schmidt joined the queue for the burger truck outside the ground. They are travelling through Europe on a World Cup reconnaissance mission, before they kick off the competition against France on the opening night.
They witnessed a French team in full flow. England’s floodgates open and the records quickly fell. They were repeatedly penalised at the ruck, allowing Ramos to edge the visiting side ahead from the kicking tee. By half time, England had conceded a record number of points for a Six Nations game at Twickenham.
If there was an image that summed up England’s approach, it was the sight of Henry Slade celebrating his side winning an attacking lineout in the 18th minute, rounding off a duel of clobbering long-range kicks. Lo behold, England botched the attack and came away with nothing.
Anthony Watson fumbled a high ball and his pack were ambushed at the breakdown. Dupont sold a dummy to Maro Itoje and then pinned back the hosts with a booming 50-22 kick. A couple of phases later, Flament powered his way over to extend the lead to 17-0.
All England had to show for their first half efforts was three points from Smith. France were dominant in every area. Alex Dombrandt dropped the ball in his own 22 and Gregory Alldritt carried from the back of the subsequent scrum. He offloaded to Ollivon who scored in the final act of the half, running over the top of Smith to leave England’s No 10 on his backside.
After 46 minutes, Steve Borthwick wielded the axe. Alex Mitchell and Owen Farrell replaced Van Poortvliet and Henry Slade. The momentum swung momentarily. Two minutes later, with Mithchell injecting tempo at the ruck, England built 12 phases, running hard and flat, before Freddie Steward ran off the ruck to score.
Second row Thibaud Flament crashed over twice for and proved a formidable force both carrying the ball and in the line-out
England’s hopes of winning this year’s championships have now been extinguished as France go joint-top with Ireland
Marcus Smith returned to the fold for England in place of Owen Farrell but couldn’t guide his team to glory in Le Crunch
Thomas Ramos was the star of the show for France, scoring a try while kicking six conversions and two penalties
He opened the scoring after two minutes in a shocking start to England, with France going on to score seven tries in the game
Meanwhile, Antoine Dupont caused problems for England throughout, showing off his excellent kicking skills while scoring a try himself
But France quickly reasserted their physical prowess. Dupont chipped the ball over the ruck and Steward made his first mistake of the day by allowing it to bounce. Ntamack leaped up and palmed the ball into Flament’s grasp for the lock to score his second.
Then Dupont manhandled Smith over his own tryline and France pounced. Street smart, Ollivon spotted the ball over the line, meaning he was onside to simply touch down and score.
England’s fans poured out. They would rather have stood at the queue at the train station than witness this level of humiliation. Ollie Lawrence left with injury and Dombrandt filled in in the backline. Gael Fickou spotted him lurking on the wing and kicked the ball wide for Damian Penaud to pounce.
The winger scored again the 75th minute as the scale of Borthwick’s job as England coach turned into a bleak reality. They travel to Ireland next week to face the world’s number one team. It is a daunting prospect but surely it cannot get much worse than this?