The XV de la Rose, reduced to 14 from the second minute in an incandescent Twickenham, can no longer win the Tournament and everything will therefore be played at a distance between Ireland (2nd, 16 pts), which receives Scotland, and the France (1st, 18 pts), which therefore challenges the English.

Bad news for the Blues: Scotland have not beaten Ireland since 2017 and the last victory of the XV du Thistle in Dublin dates back to 2010 and a 23-20 success.

Good news for the Blues: if they have lost two of their last three matches against England, their only victory took place in their Dionysian enclosure (24-17 in February 2020) at the opening of the 2020 Tournament.

Eddie Jones' men can therefore only hope to spoil the French party by surprising the Blues at the Stade de France, where they have lost only once in the Fabien Galthié era (against Scotland 27-23 in March 2021, Ed), to deprive them of a first Grand Slam since 2010.

Blame it on a match where almost nothing went their way: reduced to fourteen after 82 seconds for a red card against their second line Charlie Ewels (the fastest exclusion in the history of the Tournament), the English then conceded a try from winger James Lowe (6th) then lost third row Tom Curry to injury (15th).

"Sorry, good game"?

It is badly to know the XV of the Rose.

It certainly no longer has the flamboyance of its predecessors, but this team, in the throes of change, has some backing.

Maro Itoje's teammates, uncertain until the last moment due to illness, held out for a long time against one of the best teams of the moment before dropping off at the end of the match and receiving two tries from Jack Conan (72nd) and Finlay Bealham (76th).

Irish winger James Lowe (centre) celebrates his try against England with his teammates in the Six Nations at Twickenham on March 12, 2022 Glyn KIRK AFP

These third and fourth tries, synonymous with the offensive bonus point, allow the XV du Clover to stay within gunshot range of France.

Despite everything, the English showed that they had qualities, in particular in close scrum or by taking advantage of Irish clumsiness.

The efficiency at the foot of the nugget Marcus Smith (5 successful penalties out of 6) did the rest.

Fabien Galthié's men have been warned: you must always be wary of the English.

© 2022 AFP