Late Daly try stuns France as England triumph in Six Nations
An 80th minute converted Elliot Daly try gave England a 26-25 win over France in the second round of the 2025 Guinness Six Nations at Allianz Stadium.
France made their attacking intent clear early on, showing plenty of pace threat out wide through Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud.
England’s defence absorbed the pressure however, with Les Bleus’ most promising surge toward the line - courtesy of Thomas Ramos - thwarted in the very next phase by a momentum shifting tackle from Tom Curry.
The visitors dominated territory and possession, but struggled to convert their opportunities as Ramos missed a penalty on the 12-minute mark, and uncharacteristic handling errors from Antoine Dupont and Penaud scuppered certain scores.
French endeavour shone through on 29 minutes, as Dupont swept across the field just inside England’s half - offloading to Penaud on his inside - before the winger nudged a well-weighted kick into the path of his counterpart Bielle-Biarrey to dot down in the corner. Ramos’ conversion made it 0-7.
Undeterred, England regathered and made their way down the pitch. Finding themselves inside the French 22 for just the second time with minutes left on the clock - a series of sloppy passes were scooped up by Freeman, who shifted the ball to the onrushing Lawrence to go under the posts for his fifth Test try. Marcus Smith’s extras levelled the affair.
The half time stats showed a strong French performance, as they made 100 more metres than England, beat more defenders, as well as registering more carries and clean breaks. England Rugby’s Match Centre highlighted Freeman as a standout performer - the Northampton Saint beating three defenders with his five carries.
Second half drama
A frantic pace was set at the resumption, as both sides committed to running the ball from all areas of the pitch, but it was Fabien Galthié’s men who put points on the board first - thanks to a pair of Ramos penalties - which opened up a six-point lead.
It was short lived though, as England struck back on 57 minutes. Inside the French 22, fly-half Fin Smith - making his first Test start - fired a cross-field kick toward the touchline, and his Northampton team mate Freeman plucked it out of the air to score.
A Penaud try on the hour mark swung the momentum back toward Les Bleus, but Borthwick's men wrestled their way back into the Test with 10 minutes remaining, when replacement prop Baxter bullied his way over the line from close range. Fin Smith’s extras gave England the lead for the first time with the score 19-18.
A late Bielle-Biarrey effort - successfully converted - looked to have taken the game away from England, but a last gasp English attack saw Daly burst through the line to steal the game 26-25 at Allianz Stadium.
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