England blow championship wide open

France 13-24 England:  Jonny Wilkinson's world test record 29th drop goal helped England defeat defending Six Nations champions France 24-13 this evening.

The visitors, who had started by losing to Wales at Twickenham before struggling to beat Italy, showed signs of nerves after opening a 10-0 lead but did enough to deny the French a third consecutive win.

Tries to wing Paul Sackey and scrumhalf Richard Wigglesworth, as well as 14 points from flyhalf Wilkinson's boot, gave England another win over France after their World Cup semi-final victory on the same pitch four months ago.

Among Wilkinson's tally was the drop goal that put him ahead of Argentine Hugo Porta in the record books.

France, who had beaten Scotland and Ireland in their first two matches with a rejuvenated side, fought bravely but had to be content with a try by lock Lionel Nallet converted by centre Damien Traille and a penalty each for scrumhalves Morgan Parra and Dimitri Yachvili.

England made a perfect start, with Damien Traille releasing the ball after a tackle by opposing centre Jamie Noon. Sackey seized the loose ball and raced to the line for an early try for the visitors.

Wilkinson converted and added a penalty a few minutes later to put his side 10-0 up 15 minutes into the game.

France replied 10 minutes later with a pick up and go series by their pack concluded by a try from captain Nallet which Traille converted to put the home side just three points behind.

Wilkinson kicked another penalty to put the World Cup finalists ahead 13-7 at the break.

Parra, starting a game for France for the first time, took over the goalscoring duties and restored hope for the hosts with a penalty early in the second half.

Wilkinson then missed two penalties in quick succession but made amends with his record-breaking drop goal followed by a penalty.

A penalty from substitute scrumhalf Yachvili suggested France could fight back but it was not to be and the closing stages witnessed sustained pressure by the England forwards and Wigglesworth's first international try as a reward.

France tried their best to run the ball and thrilled the crowd with some daring moves but were naive at times against a solid England side and paid dearly for poor discipline.