Nigel Owens gives Mike Brown a talking to and it's reminiscent of a corridor rollocking from the head of sixth form at school - Brown, contrite, keeps his eyes to the ground and mutters "yes, Sir" after Owen's every utterance. Too many scuffles, apparently. Wonder if Chelsea are watching... Ford kicked the extras...

England need to win by at least 26 points to win the title.

Northampton and England prop Alex Corbisiero:, external Game on!

Image source, AP

... England penalty, which is taken quickly and Ben Youngs goes over under the posts... great stuff from Joseph, running it from almost under his own posts and Youngs showed good poise and strength to dot down for his second try of the match.

England need to win by at least 26 points to win the title.

Bit of training ground stuff from France and Spedding eventually gets the ball on the right wing. French hooker down, Guirado looks to have taken a blow to the head. He is, however, up and at 'em again... Fickou with some dancing feet, bit of ping-pong, Ford is charged down by Flanquart, here comes Joseph from deep...

England need to win by at least 26 points to win the title.

Brian Moore
Former England hooker on BBC One

"That was a phenomenally close call. It was a good run from Ben Youngs to make the ground.

"The difference now is the points that have been left off the board by missed kicks from France fly-half Jules Plisson."

Matt Dawson
Former England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 live

"It was a mess of knees, ankles and bodies, possible knock-ons all over the place.

"It was a lovely break from Ben Youngs though, he was weaving in and out and eventually found George Ford to link up and keep the France defence scrambled."

Image source, AP

Ford it was who went for a dart, the ball bobbled off Haskell's knee via a French hand and the try is awarded. Some strange stuff going on out there... that means England need 26 more points to win the title from Ireland, there's two of them from the boot of Ford...

Youngs on the charge and here's an England try, the ball eventually finding itself in the hands of Anthony Watson, who dots down. But they're having a look upstairs...

Matt Dawson
Former England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 live

"It seems to me the message has gone out to the England team: we can't play this fast, loose game, we have to tighten up and grind our way back into contention"

French penalty, Cole getting caught with his hands in the money jar. But Plisson hooks his penalty attempt...

Allan McDevitt: England seem to be forgetting that they have to win the game first. Tackling usually helps.

Maddy Raman: I'm not sure the players understand the permutations. The aim is to win by 26 points, not lose by that margin.

Matthew Franklin: If all rugby matches were like the three today, no other sport would get a look-in.

England World Cup-winning centre Will Greenwood:, external Can we stop trying to play Sevens!!!! England showing extraordinary poor ball control... Could be a cricket score...

Gloucester and England flanker Matt Kvesic:, external France have turned up! Jeez!

Adam Phillips: FEROCIOUS HIT!!! Not late though.

Peter Sowerby: What a tackle!!

Joey Bulwell: 'On the edge!' Are you joking. On the edge of killing him!?

Kate Neilan: That is absolutely disgusting from Lawes. I don't care about what Nigel Owens just said. Brought him down on his head.

John Ballard: With all these stoppages, next year's Six Nations is going to start before this match finishes.

Image source, AFP

There was some argy-bargy after the ball, however, with Lawes being singled out for some jailhouse treatment by a few irate French forwards. There was, however, nothing wrong with that either. The good news is Plisson is up and about, despite suffering the rugby equivalent of a hit by a Volvo estate while not looking at a zebra crossing. Somewhere along the way, England won a penalty and Ford kicked it...

Matt Dawson
Former England scrum-half on BBC Radio 5 live

"It is unfair to watch that in slow-motion. It makes it look bad. If you watch it in real time, you will see that Courtney Lawes is fully committed to the tackle.

"There is a bit of shirt-grabbing and carry-on from the French after the tackle, but nothing serious."

Brian Moore
Former England hooker on BBC One

"When this is shown in slow motion it will look very bad. The question is, did Lawes take off before the ball was passed?

"He's right on the edge. I tell you what, you certainly wouldn't want to be on the end of it."

Image source, Getty Images

Lordy, lordy, what a tackle that was by Lawes on Plisson, the France fly-half will need treating for whiplash after that... nothing wrong with it, mind, the England lock was fully committed to the tackle, despite French protestations...

England try to get a maul going from the back of a line-out but it's eventually a France scrum after a knock-on. It was always going to be difficult for England today, try to take chances against France and they have the ability to rip you open.