England Rugby

England lock Ollie Chessum, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "Delighted.

"The boys have been working so hard and sometimes we don't get the results.

"The boys have worked so hard in the week and pulled together as a group.

"You always want to win - it's the nature of what we do.

"We've not had the results that we wanted in the last six months."

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Matt Dawson
2003 World Cup winner on BBC Radio 5 Live

France were scintillating at times.

They couldn't connect for the killer moment and there must of been half-dozen opportunities where they held onto the ball.

If, buts and maybes - this is where you've got to be at top-level.

France Rugby

France lock Emmanuel Meafou: "I think we just made one too many mistakes, a few too many turnovers and it was a bit wet out there and we dropped too many balls.

"It didn’t stick for us tonight and the English were better at keeping the possession.

"Our style of play is to kind of let the ball go, a freestyle way of playing, I think we need to be better at bringing it back to the simple things but we will learn from this game.

"We need to get rid of the fancy stuff we force and just let the play happen by itself.

"There are three games left so we will come back stronger."

Paul Grayson
Former England fly-half on BBC Radio 5 Live

These lads have been getting grief for a long time now about the quality of the play.

They found a way to win against a France team who handed the initiative back to them.

Cadan Murley's foot injury against Ireland helped pave the way for Elliot Daly to come into the matchday 23.

The 32-year-old showed there is life left in him yet at international level.

Weirdly that was his first game for England since the defeat by France in the Six Nations last year.

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France Rugby

French defence coach Shaun Edwards: "We got the oopsies, didn't we? Every time we got near the tryline we seemed to just drop the ball.

"I've never seen that happen before. The French lads are normally magnificent handlers of a rugby ball."

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"You are my guy now."

Is that what Steve Borthwick is telling Fin Smith here?

Smith is still only 22.

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That win means England have ended a run of three defeats in a row against France in the Six Nations.

England Rugby

England head coach Steve Borthwick, speaking to ITV: "I'm delighted for the players and happy for the supporters who are always magnificent behind this team. It was a special atmosphere.

"You want things to happen instantly. This England team is going to be a good England team and there's a lot of talent.

"The ceiling is so high and what you've got to do is keep working hard.

"Today you saw somethings improve.

"Again bravery and courage with the ball - they're a team who want to score tries. We scored four tries against a brilliant French defence and restricted them to three tries.

"It was a great Test match - I'm sure everyone watching at home enjoyed it."

On Fin Smith: "Really pleased for him in his first start.

"Tom Willis, exceptional again. This is an evolving team and it is a young team - there's a high amount of potential."

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England Rugby

More from fly-half Fin Smith: "I think we just really backed ourselves. We knew we couldn't go into our shells.

"We had to keep playing and keep moving the ball.

"The French are an awesome outfit and I felt like they let us off the hook in the first half and we felt like momentum had to come to us at some point."

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Anyone have Fin Smith down as a British and Irish Lions bolter?

Not a bad year to put in that performance.

71 mins - Fin Baxter scores and Fin Smith puts England ahead by a point.

74 mins - Louis Bielle-Biarrey scores his second try as France reclaim the lead.

79 mins - Elliot Daly scores and Fin Smith adds the extras to put England ahead.

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Matt Dawson
2003 World Cup winner on BBC Radio 5 Live

If England knock it out the park they have a chance.

That's the narrative of the day.

England Rugby

England captain Maro Itoje, speaking to ITV: "It was a blur.

"For large parts of the game we weren't as accurate as we wanted to be. I will take responsibility for the line-outs not being as accurate as we wanted them to be.

"One thing I love is we'll fight for each other, and we are going to believe in each other.

"We were brave - that's the foundation of what we want to be doing going forward.

"I am delighted for this team, for the fans, thanks for staying with us. We are going to build from here."

On future games: "We need to be consistent throughout the game. We need to be accurate and when we have opportunities we need to capitalise on them, but what I love about this team is we are going to fight.

"We want this to be the foundation of us, and thanks so much for the support.

"Allianz was rocking today!"

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England Rugby

England fly-half Fin Smith on being the player of the match: "Happy with it, I felt like a rabbit in the headlights in the first half.

"But I found my feet in the end, and I am delighted with the win more than anything but this is cool for a first start anyway."

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I asked if Fin Smith is now England's fly-half. The outcome was clear...

Not even Antoine Dupont could save France.

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