Here’s our France player ratings after their impressive 22-16 victory over England.
15 Hugo Bonneval – Off too early with a head injury to make an impact. 5/10
14 Benjamin Fall – Although Grosso will take the headlines, Fall played his part well. 7/10
13 Mathieu Bastareaud – A giant in defence, a monster at the ruck, there’s no mistaking the big man is back. He was the French heartbeat today. Superb. 9/10
12 Geoffrey Doumayrou – Strong and direct with some deft touches. 7/10
11 Rémy Grosso – Some lovely work, both in defence and attack; a great performance. 8/10
10 François Trinh-Duc – The veteran 10 is still the most authentic fly-half in France and showed precisely why he should be the incumbent. 7/10
9 Maxime Machenaud – Pinpoint with the boot, he kept France on the front foot and will be delighted with his day. 7/10
8 Marco Tauleigne – Ran hard and straight like an old fashioned number eight does. 7/10
7 Yacouba Camara – He won’t like being cleaned out in the lineout but Camara was snappy with ball in hand and is developing well. 7/10
6 Wenceslas Lauret – Improving in leaps and bounds around the contact area and his fitness seemed limitless around the tackle and contact area. His best game yet in a French shirt. 8/10
5 Sébastien Vahaamahina – A game of silly penalties and massive hits, his day was mixed. 5/10
4 Paul Gabrillagues – A real find for France, he shored up the mauls and powered the rucks. 7/10
3 Rabah Slimani – Slimani was all over Vunipola, but sadly it was illegally and he was a bit of a penalty machine. 4/10
2 Guilhem Guirado – His questionable lineout throwing aside, the French skipper leads by example and tackled his heart out. 7/10
1 Jefferson Poirot – We can only rate his work at the ruck as he and Dan Cole failed to complete one single scrummage due the antics of Slimani and Vunipola on the other side of the scrum. 5/10
Replacements:
16 Adrien Pelissié – Kept England’s drives at bay with some powerful tackles. 5/10
17 Dany Priso – Added pace and momentum. 5/10
18 Cedate Gomes Sa – Won a crucial turnover when England threatened. 5/10
19 Romain Taofifenua – Held the lineout and scrum together in the last ten minutes. 5/10
20 Kélian Galletier – Replaced the outstanding Lauret as the Racing flank tired. 5/10
21 Baptiste Couilloud – It seemed as if Machenaud needed to be yanked off, but his replacement did well. 5/10
22 Lionel Beauxis – A moment of complete lunacy almost cost France the match. Mindless. 3/10
23 Gaël Fickou – Brought into the game early and out of position, Fickou held out well. 6/10
by James While
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