Game plan provides everything but a win

Well blow me if that was not a typical Five Nations' weekend. Retainers and win bonuses may be a factor for some now but the fare was no different. Except that England suffered their first Five Nations' defeat at the hands of France since 1988. Perhaps it was the prospect of a win bonus that galvanised the French performance. Perhaps though they have just figured out how to play England.

For about an hour everything seemed to be going to plan. The pack were exerting their usual control and the half-backs, Martin Dawson and Paul Grayson, were kicking England into scoring positions. The chasing of kicks was superb and first-up tackles were made. The French were finding it hard to establish a pattern and at the end of that first hour England, though not 10 points clear, deserved to be. The home crowd were beginning to get frustrated and Eurostar had obviously done their bit to vocalise the English contingent.

However, chances were not taken and England were never able to stretch away by more than three points. Jean-Claude Skrela, the French coach, is renowned for having a front five that handles with threequarter-like dexterity, and that allied with some bulldozing forward drives meant that the French started going places. Thankfully for England, the French back line were unable to match this and they never looked like scoring a try. Yet in the second half neither did England.

The line-out was providing pinball-like possession and the scrum, so dominant in the first half, lost its shape. The lack of a stable platform meant it was becoming harder to control any aspect of the game. Where England were dominant, though, was at restarts where Grayson and the forwards linked well. This was crucial as it allowed England the opportunity to answer French scores almost immediately.

At the end, though, it was England who had to suffer denial at the hands of a drop goal. As Stuart Barnes will tell you, it does not matter how well you strike it. Thomas Castaignede's kick was similar to Barnes' Pilkington Cup winning effort in 1992 in all but length. The French shared in his delightfully cheeky reaction, knees up and tongue out. The English wanted to cut it off.

England can take heart from this performance. The game plan was never going to change much from previous years, the only query was whether this team had the ability to carry it out. To have pushed this French side so close must have provided an answer. However, this was a classic backs- against-the-wall performance and the true test will come in a fortnight when England will go in as favourites against the Welsh at Twickenham.

Saturday was difficult and different for me. Difficult to have to watch as opposed to play in another Test. Different as I was watching it with a friend who was in hospital. The stark contrast between the drama unfolding on your television screen and that in a hospital ward is evident. Winning in sport is not as important as winning in health, but the former does help the latter. I only hope my friend's recovery is not delayed any further as a result.

We did enjoy the game in spite of a dodgy aerial and the protestations of an Irish nurse who would have preferred to have followed her team's progress on Ceefax than watch events unfolding in Paris.

During the course of the game, we concluded that Dawson should now be able to afford a new pair of leggings (no matter how lucky they might have been), that Dean Richards, despite the lack of a rowing machine, is looking pretty trim and that rugby players are now aspiring to be Hollywood men. Nose job or nostril enlargement, what do you think those strips are for?