Player Ratings: France

OPINION: France’s hopes of a Grand Slam were shattered at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday, as England struck late to win 26-25 in Round Two of the Six Nations.

The visitors will wonder what might have been if their handling was better in a match defined by dropped passes. Almost no player came away from this match without at least one knock-on to their name, and they paid the price.

Some rare off days for some superstars and Les Bleus are now relying on other results to go their way this Championship.

Can we call it an upset? #rugby #sports #England #France #SixNations https://t.co/YuHdLXwLyl

— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) February 8, 2025

Here’s how the players rated:

15 Thomas Ramos – 5
A poor miss from the tee early on which came after some loose kicking out of hand. Shared the first-receiver role with Matthieu Jalibert, or even had the lion’s share in a match where he saw a lot of action- he wasn’t without errors though. Didn’t seem particularly interested in tackling Ollie Lawrence for England’s opening try of the match.

14 Damian Penaud – 5
Returning after missing the victory over Wales in round one and looked lively. Now sits just one try away from Serge Blanco on France’s all-time charts, though he will rue a couple of handling errors in positions many would have expected a world-class winger to score from- such errors defined the match in the end. Had no problem assisting his Bordeaux team-mate Louis Bielle-Biarrey with a perfectly weighted grubber to open the scoring.

13 Pierre-Louis Barassi – 5.5
Linked up very well with Moefana in the midfield, coming short of flummoxing England’s defence. Caught out for England’s match-winner by leaving a gaping hole for Elliot Daly to run through.

12 Yoram Moefana – 6
Handled every runner that came down his channel and made some punchy carries with ball in hand. Could have mis-timed the pass for the late try, but executed well as he did with everything in the match.

11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey – 5
Sloppy handling error early on when France had made a promising break down the left flank. That did not deter him as he came off his wing to devastating effect throughout. He was the culprit of a sloppy pass after the break when he broke down the left flank- he did everything perfectly but for the final pass. Comfortably beaten by Tommy Freeman in the air for England’s second try of the match. Would have thought he scored the match-winner late on, but was caught marking no-one as England scored the winner minutes later.

10 Matthieu Jalibert – 4
Filling in for the suspended Romain Ntamack, and had a similar performance in the No.10 jersey with Antoine Dupont taking on the playmaking responsibilities alongside Ramos. Such was the case that he was even taken off after an hour, with Dupont moving to fly-half.

9 Antoine Dupont – 5
By Antoine Dupont’s insuperable standards, this was not vintage. Controlled the game with both feet and mixed his kicking to keep Marcus Smith guessing. But he had a few sloppy passes in him, including a hospital pass to Alexandre Roumat. Looked to be in for a certain try soon after, but spilled a pass with the try line beckoning. Had the ball ripped from his clutches by Tom Curry just metres from England’s line early in the second 40. Not too bad by a normal player’s standards, but for Dupont, this was quite error-strewn. There were, of course, still moments of pure genius.

1 Jean-Baptiste Gros – 5
Pinged at the scrum when up against an opposite man in Will Stuart who had a size advantage. Had referee Nika Amashukeli watching him like a hawk at the scrum, which is never a great sign. Dynamic in the loose, which saw him covering a grubber into the corner in defence.

2 Peato Mauvaka – 4
His nonchalant offload to no-one inadvertently helped his side as Dupont snapped up the loose ball and France were scoring seconds later. But that sums up the supreme confidence he is playing with currently. Which included a cheeky one-handed lineout throw. That nonchalance cost him again when he effectively missed an open goal when he tried to catch an admittedly wayward pass one-handed when a try looked a certainty. Won a crucial turnover deep in his 22 soon before being taken off.

3 Uini Atonio – 5
Though he couldn’t get the better of Ellis Genge in the opening 50 minutes, he had more success against Fin Baxter. Was taken off immediately after winning a scrum penalty against the Harlequin though.

4 Alexandre Roumat – 4
Put England’s lineout under huge pressure as a front jumper, but had quite a few handling errors in him- one notably early in the second half when France were on the edge of England’s 22. Only lasted 50 minutes.

5 Emmanuel Meafou – 6
Metres after contact were sensational, which would be expected from a 145kg player. Pivotal to how France play now

6 Francois Cros – 6
The catalyst for Les Bleus’ opening try by distributing from the deck as soon as he pounced on a loose ball- a small touch but the hallmark of a team and a player at full confidence. Strong defensive effort.

7 Paul Boudehent – 4
A quiet 50 minutes on the field. Penalised on one occasion for holding on, but was left isolated when supporting Ramos.

8 Gregory Alldritt – 7
Player of the match last week and started this match in a similar vein, charging down a kick from Fin Smith in what was the Englishman’s first touch in his first Test start. Followed that up by marching George Martin backwards, which is no mean feat. Had a great battle with England’s lock in the midfield, with both trading huge shots.

Replacements
16 Julien Marchand – 4
Bowled over as Baxter powered over from close range as England scored their third try of the match.

17 Cyril Baille – 5
Produced some meaty carries in his 25 minute cameo.

18 Georges-Henri Colombe – 4
Gave away a scrum penalty, which gave England the field position for their third try. Fabien Galthie may regret making the change for Atonio, then again, he couldn’t last much longer.

19 Hugo Auradou – 4
In his third cap, the Pau man was penalised within seconds of coming on for holding on after taking the restart.

20 Mickael Guillard – 5
A nice touch kept the ball alive for France’s late score.

21 Oscar Jegou – 5
Fairly industrious from the bench, but not with a great impact.

22 Nolann Le Garrec – 5
A quiet cameo at the end.

23 Emilien Gailleton- N/A