U20 Six Nations: France 31-28 England – France Win Grand Slam after narrow victory

‘Le Crunch’ started with numerous mistakes from both teams, France possibly allowing some nerves to creep in with the chance of a Six Nations title and Grand Slam on the line.

But those nerves looked to have settled after an excellent French lineout was finished off by Dylan Cazemajou, dancing past English centre Will Knight on his way to the try line.

France doubled their lead five minutes later in what can only be described as a beautiful passage of French flair. A big turnover won by captain Marceau Marzullo, before Melvyn Rates caught a Luka Keletaona cross-field kick.

And it wasn’t even two minutes before Les Bleus scored their third of the night. Wonderful, free-flowing rugby ended via centre Timeo Frier, and celebrations had already begun in La Rochelle just 16 minutes in.

This was the third time in this year’s Six Nations that England had started poorly in the opening 15, something which head coach Andy Titterell had pointed out repeatedly throughout their campaign.

But the Red Roses had woken up, James Pater finding space on the outside to leave a 2-on-1 with winger Tyler Offiah, allowing the Bath player to walk it in.

Just 20 minutes in and four tries had already been scored, setting up a game very reminiscent of the match between the Men’s sides just a day prior.

France repeatedly exposed the English line, exploding past the game line and gaining some well-deserved yards. Their fourth came next, Cazemajou earning his second of the night. L Keletaona was unable to convert to seven points, however.

A charge down from Aidan Ainsworth-Cave allowed England to have some possession of their own, breathing a bit of confidence into this team and scoring off a routine lineout five minutes from half-time and 12 points down.

And England would’ve been happy to go into half-time with that deficit, before a lifeline was handed to them, Elliot Williams barging himself over the try line and cutting Frances’ lead to just five points after a chaotic and entertaining first half.

The start of the second half was very similar to the first due to the amount of mistakes, but it would be England to score the first after the break, Nick Lilley’s crash-ball line enough to give the team in white their bonus point try and the lead for the first time in the game, France’s campaign ending up with no trophy slowing becoming a possibility.

France, whose last point came all the way back in the 26^th minute, saw replacement for the injured Luka Keletaona, Gabin Kretchmann, miss a chance to go ahead via a penalty in the 64^th minute. And heading into the final 15 minutes, it was all to play for.

Kretchmann missed another penalty just 15 metres from the posts, one where 99 times out of 100, you’d expect him to make it.

Dylan Cazemajou thought he had scored a hat-trick and a crucial France try in the 71^st minute, but a superb Noah Calouri tackle sent the winger out of touch just before putting the ball.

That didn’t faze them, though, as a hard-punched French lineout collapsed over the line, giving them the lead with just six minutes to go and one hand on the trophy.

And when that clock hit 80, the celebrations could begin. A French turnover sealed the game, sending the crowd into mayhem and the pyrotechnics to start up.

France had won the Six Nations and the Grand Slam; meanwhile, England finished third in the table, but can feel pleased after putting that performance in, in La Rochelle.

Speaking to the BBC after the match, England Captain Connor Treacey said: “France were always going to come out firing, we knew that was going to happen, but we came back well in the second half and really proud of the lads.”

French hooker Gabin Garault said, “It’s a special night for a special group, and I’m so blessed to play it here in this stadium; it’s going to be a great night.”

15. Joachim Senga-Kouo-Gilbert 14. Dylan Cazemajou 13. Timeo Frier 12. Bastien Rasal 11. Melvyn Rates 10. Luka Keletaona 9. Baptiste Tilloles 1. Edouard Jabea-Njocke 2. Gabin Garault 3. Mael Turpin 4. Baptiste Veschambre 5. Romeo Bonnard-Martin 6. Marceau Marzullo (Captain) 7. Tana Keletaona 8. Ellyjah Ibsaiene

16. Yanis Basse 17. Alexandre Langlois 18. Ruben Pargade 19. Leo Michaux 20. Lucas Andjisseramatchi 21. Nathan Llaveria 22. Gabin Kretchmann 23. Axel Guillaud

15. James Pater 14. Noah Calouri 13. Nick Lilley 12. Will Knight 11. Tyler Offiah 10. Finn Keylock 9. Lucas Friday 1. Ollie Scola 2. Jimmy Staples 3. Ollie Streeter 4. Elliot Williams 5. Aiden Ainsworth-Cave 6. Tate Williams 7. Seb Kelly 8. Connor Treacey (Captain)

16. Kealan Freemen-Price 17. Ollie Spencer 18. Sonny Tonga’uiha 19. Freddie Ogden-Metherell 20. George Marsh 21. Jonny Weimann 22. Victor Worsnip 23. George Pearson

France deserved to win that game and the championship. They’ve been the standout team the whole tournament through their expansive playing style of rugby, and the early tries proved that point.

England U20 now tend to have a habit of waiting till the 15^th minute before getting into the game, as being 21-0 down to France proved to everyone and especially head coach Andy Titterrell that that’s still the case.

The lineouts from today’s game were very poor, as a lot of good throws weren’t met with good catches, or even the throws were poor.

There were a lot of turnovers from the lineouts, which could be a cause for concern, but when they did work out, both teams were getting enormous distances with them, and some resulted in a try.

Cazemajou was in fine form today, as his shiftiness meant that England couldn’t really lay a finger on him. He deserved the two tries he scored and could’ve had a third, as well as having well over 100+ metres carried today, one to watch for sure.

England may feel a bit underwhelmed after the 2026 U20 Six Nations has finished. Obvious errors have come up as stated before, but two close losses means that they weren’t blown away in any game.

Never felt they were in to win the tournament, however, which many players and fans were hoping for a title push.