France match-winner Thomas Ramos said on Saturday their last-gasp 48-46 victory over England to clinch a second straight Six Nations title underlined the team’s character.
Ramos slotted an 83rd minute penalty from more than 40m out at the Stade de France at the end of a breathless match to secure the crown.
The score changed hands on countless occasions in a thriller in Paris as Les Bleus overtook Ireland in the standings with the last kick of the game.
“I love it, I love those moments,” Ramos told France Televisions.
“It was so hard if you look back on the scenario.
“It would have been so hard to lose the title at home.
“It shows we have character in those moments,” the 30-year-old added.
France conceded more than 45 points for a second straight game having lost 50-40 away to Scotland last Saturday.
Despite their incredible attacking talents it underlined their weaknesses in defence, letting ship 14 tries across two games.
“We have to be honest with ourselves because at this level we can’t concede 50 points then 40,” Toulouse’s Ramos said.
“If we want to be in with a chance of winning these competitions, we can’t be conceding so many tries,” he added.
Steve Borthwick’s England lost for a fourth straight game ending a sluggish campaign with a spirited display.
Poor discipline cost Borthwick’s outfit for a second time in seven days with Ellis Genge spending time in the bin, a week on from Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje’s misdemeanours against Italy last Saturday.
During Genge’s time off the field England conceded two tries, including a third of four from France winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
“It has taken time to get the relationships in the team, we have been disappointing in the last few weeks and we wanted a result tonight but we hope the fans can be proud of how the team played,” Borthwick told ITV.
“The yellow cards have hurt us but I think tonight’s was very debatable.
“Luck has gone against us but we have to be better than that.
The loss to the Azzurri, their first ever defeat to Italy, sparked calls for Borthwick to lose his job, despite taking the side to a 12-match unbeaten run, which ended with last month’s humbling by Scotland.
Borthwick had publically stated his desire to win the Grand Slam clean sweep before the competition started.
“I am very clear on the direction of the team, we wanted to achieve more in the tournament,” he said.
“But we will make sure we do that going forwards,” he added.
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