France v England: Six Nations 2026 rugby union – live
Key events
Speaking of the 120 year anniversary of Le Crunch, there is a special edition France shirt (which is gorgeous by the way, and already sold out) but it’s a very pale blue and will clash a bit with England white.
Pre-match reading to get you in the mood
The final game of the tournament is upon us, share your thoughts on this and anything else from the past few weeks if you like on this very email. I look forward to reading them.
Teams
France
Thomas Ramos; Theo Attissogbe, Pierre‑Louis Barassi, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle‑Biarrey; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont; Jean‑Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri; Thibaud Flament, Emmanuel Meafou; Francois Cros, Temo Matiu, Charles Ollivon.
Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Rodrigue Neti, Demba Bamba, Hugo Auradou, Mickael Guillard, Joshua Brennan, Baptiste Serin, Emilien Gailleton.
England
Elliot Daly; Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman, Seb Atkinson, Cadan Murley; Fin Smith, Ben Spencer; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes; Maro Itoje, Alex Coles; Ollie Chessum, Guy Pepper, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan‑Dickie, Bevan Rodd, Trevor Davison, Chandler Cunningham‑South, Sam Underhill, Henry Pollock, Jack van Poortvliet, Marcus Smith.
Preamble
It is 120 years since England first played France in the game of rugby union football, the fixture that came to be known as Le Crunch. Just six weeks or so ago, according to common wisdom, this anniversary match looked to be perfectly positioned to host a Grand Slam decider; a tie of apposite stature to mark the occasion.
The problem is that other teams – Italy, Ireland and Scotland; nations that couldn’t give one for such matters – took great delight in splintering the received narrative; and so we find ourselves with a contest of diminished reward of outcome, but not of context and interest.
France have underperformed. The talent at the disposal of Fabien Galthie buckled when Scotland applied the first real test, and it became very apparent that they are not coached well enough. They must demonstrate today that this is not the case, or that they can arrest the decline quickly.
Steve Borthwick and his England team arrive in Paris shrouded in the miasma of an inquisition already started in earnest regarding his suitability for the job, the gameplan, and the leadership in the squad. Very few wish to entertain the probable truth that England’s players are are a long way from great and likely no better than good at this level; so the interminable reviews and think-pieces will continue until morale improves. In the meantime, they must show they can stop going behind in matches early then losing their minds either by failing to convert in the 22 or coughing up penalties and yellow cards.
Following Ireland’s win earlier today the task for France is simple: win the game and they win the Championship, lose and Ireland take the trophy. For England, lose the game and trudge listlessly into the tournament post-mortem, but a win…and exactly the same thing happens.
