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Guirado admits France couldn't live with England's kick chase game
By Liam Blackburn
France were left reeling by England's kick-chase tactic in the first half of their 44-8 thrashing at Twickenham, according to Les Bleus captain Guilhem Guirado.
Elliot Daly's grubber kick through for Jonny May's first try inside the opening two minutes proved to be a sign of things to come as England frequently exposed the space behind France's backs.
May went over twice more to claim a hat-trick before Henry Slade sealed a bonus point just before the interval, with Damian Penaud, the man England targeted time and again, scoring France's sole try.
England were 30-8 up at half-time, which meant the game was over even before a penalty try and a score from Owen Farrell in the second period.
"We never controlled the game in the first half," Guirado told ITV.
"We took a lot of pressure in the kick-chase - 30-8 in the first half...it's very hard to come back.
"We didn't have good ball and we never came to break the line."
It is nine years since France were last Six Nations champions and, after throwing away a 16-0 lead to be beaten by Wales in the opener of this year's tournament, the loss in 'Le Crunch' virtually ended their title hopes for another year.
"Today we have not made our intensity and we need to work hard to come back for Scotland in the next game," Guirado said.
"It's tough but we need to work very hard to come back."
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Latest Comments
SH rugby is dying. To win, the teams have had to rely on the incompetence of the refs.
You had a good run, but hopefully world rugby gets better standards for refs and your slide to irrelevance will be quick and justified.
Go to commentsI dont believe Skelton has ever proven himself at test level tho Nick. Yep he played well against a side they scored plenty against but his record v the top sides isnt special. Good quality player but Im not as convinced about him as you seem to be, as you base most of your opinion on his local club stuff not really his test performances. His test record of 30 tests in 10 years explains itself very well. I think he is an honest performer but certainly not a top notch International player.
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