A young, remodelled France, announced themselves as overdue contenders again for the first time in a decade, blew the 2020 Guinness Six Nations wide open with a momentous 24-17 win over the World Cup finalists at the Stade de France on Sunday. But, whatever else, there will be no Grand Slam for England. But France have been revived by new head coach Fabien Galthié, defence coach Shaun Edwards and, in all, an infusion of four young debutants. “It was a little bit stop-start,” he conceded. Sometimes playing wide-wide and getting on the edges is great but sometimes there’s a hole straight in front of you so just calm it down a little bit and we’ll be better for that practice.

Source: The Irish Times February 03, 2020 06:00 UTC