The Paris national stadium delivered one of those nights you tell forever. In a wildly unhinged Crunch, France overturned England 48-46 to keep the Six Nations crown. Breathless stuff — 13 tries and a finish straight out of a movie.
After the final whistle, Thomas Ramos stepped up for a long-range penalty. The stadium went quiet. The kick split the posts. France had just sealed a second straight title.
A Crunch that exploded from the first half
The game kicked off at a brutal pace. Louis Bielle-Biarrey opened the scoring in the 8th minute, darting onto a pinpoint kick from Ramos.
Minutes later the winger struck again, giving France a bit of breathing room. England, though, answered almost straight away.
Fueled by their wings and forward power, England ran in four first-half tries. Tom Roebuck, Cadan Murley, Ollie Chessum and Alex Coles each found holes in a French defence that kept getting pressed.
France still limited the damage before the break thanks to a penalty try from a rolling maul and a yellow for Ellis Genge.
A genuine turning point.
France fight back after the break
With the extra man, France returned a different team. And quickly, Louis Bielle-Biarrey struck again.
The Bordeaux winger grabbed his third try right after the restart from a crisply executed team move. Minutes later Théo Attissogbe finished off a quick-tap penalty played by Antoine Dupont.
But this Crunch refused to pick a winner.
England hit back immediately — an Ollie Chessum interception followed by a Marcus Smith try. Once more behind, France had to hang on.
Bielle-Biarrey in full-on phenom mode
And when France needed a spark, Bielle-Biarrey showed up.
Fed by another flash of genius from Antoine Dupont, the winger notched his fourth of the night, leaving England’s defence in his dust on a supersonic run.
A historic quartet — he set a new single-tournament Six Nations record with nine tries.
With just 27 caps, Bielle-Biarrey has already piled up 29 tries for his country.
🏉 #GreatnessM6N | 🇫🇷⚡️🏴 Not happy? QUADRUPLE!
The country’s saviour is Louis Bielle-Biarrey for now, but nothing is decided yet (45-39) #FRAANG
📺 Watch the Crunch live: https://t.co/2YyyGIAfdo pic.twitter.com/cqEmNt9FCp
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) March 14, 2026
A heart-stopping finish
The chaos wasn’t finished.
On 79 minutes Tommy Freeman put England back in front after Demba Bamba picked up a yellow. The Paris national stadium went rigid.
France had one last possession.
Then an English foul. A 45-metre penalty straight in front of the posts. The exact kind of moment that writes itself into history.
🏉 #GreatnessM6N | 🔥🇫🇷 France lifts the trophy at home!
📺 Watch the celebrations live: https://t.co/2YyyGIAfdo pic.twitter.com/jtjA4KOwZg
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) March 14, 2026
Thomas Ramos didn’t flinch.
France carve their names into the history books
This spectacular win means France retain the Six Nations crown. Back-to-back titles — something they haven’t done since 2006-07.
After the match, lock Thibaud Flament wore his emotion on his sleeve.
“It was a mad game. The English were unbelievable tonight. We were scared at times, but we never gave up. And Thomas Ramos was immense.”
A completely bonkers night.
And a Crunch that will live long in the memory of French rugby.
Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP
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