England were moments away from securing a surprise win over France but ultimately lost 48-46 in Paris
England head coach Steve Borthwick believes his side were robbed of a famous win against France in one of the most dramatic ever endings to a Six Nations Championship.
Borthwick’s side lost 48-46 in Paris on Saturday night, but the score doesn’t even begin to tell the full story. England looked to have snatched victory late on with a Tommy Freeman try, only for Thomas Ramos to have the last laugh with a last-gasp penalty.
Ultimately, the result didn’t drastically alter what has been a hugely disappointing Six Nations campaign for England, but Borthwick has come out fighting after his future was called into question following last weekend’s defeat against Italy.
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One of the head coach’s main gripes was something that happened as they led 39-38 with 14 minutes left on the clock. England thought they were going to get a penalty, which changed their approach to a phase of play, according to Borthwick.
“We’ve been told on the pitch it was a penalty advantage,” he said.
“And I know probably some people at home probably are looking at why we played the way we did, and it should be explained that the players on the pitch were told it was a penalty advantage.
“So they played in a certain manner that knowing you had a penalty to go back to.
“Unfortunately, what happened in the background is the TMO would change it to a knock-on advantage.
“The players were unaware of it and France go down the other end and score a try.
“I think that World Rugby needs to look at that kind of situation. You can’t have the players playing with certain knowledge and then it taken away from them. Knowing that, I think some of those bits I find confusing.”
Borthwick also questioned the decision to show Ellis Genge a yellow card for collapsing a maul, something that proved very costly as England conceded 14 points while down to 14 men.
“I thought that one against Ellis to give a penalty try – I don’t follow it. I’ll ask for it to be explained to me,” he said.
Borthwick did concede that his side’s discipline needs to improve, adding: “I’ll be very clear, our discipline needs to be better. We need to keep 15 men on the pitch.”
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