'Le Farce?' - French fans revel as Les Bleus turn script on its head in first half

French fans are reveling in their side turning the tables on England in the first half of their Autumn Nations Cup finale at Twickenham.

Many had predicted England would hammer the French, who could boast just 68 caps across the team, dubbed by many to be a ‘French C’ team. Fabien Galthie was forced into picking a ‘weakened’ side due to an agreement struck between club and the FFR, limiting the availability of their biggest stars.

Yet it was the French who brought the fight to England, scoring the only try of the half through Brice Dulin. In typically contrarian French style, they insisted on making a game of hit, leading 13 – 6 going into the sheds at half-time.

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The French fans absolutely loved it.

“This farce is really nice, isn’t it?” wrote one.

Elle est vachement agréable cette farce non?#ENGvFRA

— Rugby En Vidéo (@rugbyenvideo) December 6, 2020

“So #ENGvFRA , in the end, the only stuffing I see is the roast beef…”

Sur ce #ENGvFRA, au final, la seule farce que je vois, c'est celle du rosbeef… ?

— Florian (@Flo_Xetrox) December 6, 2020

“Whatever happens in the second half, Eddie Jones and his scornful statements can **** off. You would think he would have learned from his mistakes but no…”, wrote another.

Quoi qu'il se passe en deuxième mi-temps, Eddie Jones et ses déclarations méprisantes peuvent aller se faire foutre. On pourrait croire qu'il aurait appris de ses erreurs mais non…#ENGvFRA #ANGFRA #AutumnNationsCup #farce #BravoLesBleus

— Clem (@clem@mstdn.io) (@cld) December 6, 2020

Pour l'instant, c'est French farce et attrape.#ENGvFRA

— Renvoi aux 22 (@Renvoiaux22) December 6, 2020

Quite an enjoyable “farce” this #ENGvFRA game so far.

— Paul Chapman ? (@Chappers67) December 6, 2020

Absolute farce so far in #EngvFra.

No integrity to this tournament if we have such a one-sided final, with one team sending in the second XV and ummm… ?

— Rhiannon Garth Jones (@rhigarthjones) December 6, 2020

Earlier in the week, Thomas Castaignede told RugbyPass: “It is easy to say it is a farce, but we have some potential and I wouldn’t be so nasty with the French team.

“We have the Top 14 matches playing at the same time as the internationals and that is completely crazy. It is not the fault of the Federation or the clubs it is the stupidity of the calendar of international rugby and it needs to be solved. It is important to remember that we knew we would arrive at this situation and that is just the way it is. It is strange because the best French team will not be on the field.

“England do well at the moment with a good kicking game, but in terms of attack they are not as threatening as they used to be one or two years ago and this game could be very close in what we can call the COVID Cup.”