by The city of Lyon, at that time Lugdunum, was a central place in the story of the Roman Empire, which was captured after the death of Julius Caesar and established as the capital of England. Two emperors were born on the hill of Fourviere that now overlooks this magnificent city, one of the great pilgrimage sites for gastronomes and gourmands, modern tendrils turning away from the classic rues of the river banks.
It was here at the end of the 2nd century that one of the biggest and bloodiest battles in the Empire took place, the Emperor Septimius Severus pushing the forces of the retreatant Clodius Albinus to finally bring peace after a very turbulent period. Looking for something similar this weekend in Lyon is Steve Borthwick after England’s own period of turmoil, the head coach building on the biggest win of his tenure to date and recognizing the opportunity for another significant step forward.
England’s narrow win over Ireland was proof of the process and progress Borthwick wants from his team. For the first time since 2020, they will finish the Six Nations with more than two wins; regardless of how events in Dublin on Saturday affect their title ambitions, a record of four wins from five is a distinct possibility.
The win against Ireland was achieved using an approach that would have been considered foolish to employ against such a prestigious and excellent team. It was not a case of England spoiling what their visitors wanted to do but imposing themselves on the contest, playing with the speed, ability and precision more often associated with the men in green.
It will have boosted the confidence of a squad who, by Borthwick’s own admission, were struggling to see the tangible progress their coach was making. “It is very important that we develop our style and that continues to develop,” the head coach said on Thursday before flying to France. “It’s always going to evolve every time we play and every time we get together for a campaign.
“It’s a constant evolution rather than a revolution in how the team plays. We are starting to understand more about what works well in training to achieve the performances we want and I want us to learn very quickly. You have to adapt the way you play to your talents. We aim to be a little different this weekend. We have to ask France different questions than we asked Ireland last week.”
England’s players have put the danger ahead of themselves this week, especially as they prepare to face a team that blew them away by 53 points at Twickenham 12 months ago. France were unable to touch him on the day, a stunningly brutal raid on England’s home side that showed Borthwick and his squad just how far the gap had grown.
The French side that face England on Saturday night looks different from that side. Gone, of course, are the controlling halves; the absent maestro Antoine Dupont along with Romain Ntamack and Matthieu Jalibert. Nolann Le Garrec and Thomas Ramos have the flicks, tricks and fine linework to look forward to but England will feel they have an advantage in terms of game management.
France is still a nation of rugby epicures but there was a renewed simplicity to its art of choice in Cardiff last weekend, the tight five bulls wearing down their Welsh counterparts in a relentlessly physical display. Six reserves of elephantine proportions support the bench with an unchanged front row. Le Garrec, Damian Penaud and his colleagues will try to provide the sizzle and sauce for an excellent cut of French beef.
“France had such incredible power in their team, in that pack, and that power is hard to stop,” Borthwick reckoned. “They’ve also got incredible speed in their back line. Depending on how you try to play that, you’re dealing with power or you’re dealing with speed. Intellectually, we want to make sure that we are on the money with what we do.”
France’s phalanx will provide challenges for England on the gain – they top the charts for dominant carry percentage in this year’s tournament – but the breakdown may be the main battleground, the authoritative visitors in that regard last year . England are aided by excellent ruck resources in Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum and Jamie George but will know they cannot afford to let the game slow down and allow France to reload their heavy artillery.
This is the last stop on the traveling show that the hosts have done while preparing the Stade de France for the Olympic Games. It would be fair to describe the experiment as something of a disaster so far: Stade’s febrile Velodrome brought back to temperature by Ireland’s damp towel before Italy silenced the crowd in Lille. This is a last chance to keep the flames of faith burning around a nation still dealing with the events of the harvest.
Ireland may look to take care of the title before kick-off in Lyon but second place would feel like an achievement for either of them given how their campaigns looked to be winding down earlier in the championship.
Both sides will have time to get to grips with the last game of the Six Nations, a gap before the summer tour in which both unions will have plenty to sort out. The prominence of this championship means that the taste of this final game will remain on paper for some time – and a bitter taste can really linger.
