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There are some things that shouldn’t last more than an hour: Roman Catholic mass, zumba classes, meetings, episodes of Strictly Come Dancing to name a few. Unfortunately, some of those often last much longer and Steve Borthwick must powerfully wish that rugby matches were not in this bracket, as for the best part of a year his England team have resolutely struggled with the inconvenient final quarter of games. The latest attempt to sort it will play out in the face of France, a team that traditionally doesn’t trouble itself with such humdrum things as the constraints of the time continuum.
England haven’t beaten France since 2021, and the last time Fabien Galthie’s side rolled into SponsorNameDome Twickenham they dished out a 53-point whomping to a hapless home side. Both squads are in a different place now; England more resolutely organised after two more Borthwick years, and Les Bleus still capable of hammerings (just ask Wales) but more uneven in their form.
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