Rugby: England run in six tries to beat France

TWICKENHAM - England fullback Iain Balshaw, the discovery of the Six Nations season, scored a crucial second-half try to lift the tournament leaders to a 48-19 victory over France at Twickenham.

Balshaw's touch down, one of six England tries on the day, gave the home side their fourth victory in the championship as first five-eighths Jonny Wilkinson kicked his way into the record books scoring his 407th point for his country.

With England only leading 20-19 after 59 minutes, Balshaw took a long pass from Wilkinson and sprinted to the line to finish off another impressive performance after making two try-saving tackles in the first half.

It was a crucial psychological blow for the English who added further second-half tries through hooker Phil Greening, centre Mike Catt and replacement fullback Matt Perry on the way to their fourth consecutive win after victories against Wales, Italy and Scotland.

France led 16-13 at halftime after right winger Philippe Bernat-Salles finished off an excellent backline move to touch down in the 14th minute, cancelling out an early England try from centre Will Greenwood.

Three penalties and a conversion from first five Gerald Merceron kept the French ahead before the break, compared to two penalties and a conversion from his English counterpart Wilkinson.

But, flanker Richard Hill ran in from 30 metres to score a try at the start of the second half before Balshaw's key effort.

Wilkinson became England's leading points scorer of all time with his second penalty at the end of the first half, surpassing the record of 396 points held by his mentor Rob Andrew, a remarkable achievement at the age of 21.

Wilkinson, who has won 27 caps compared to Andrew's 71, finished the match with 407 international points after six conversions and two penalties.

Merceron could only drop a goal after the break to add to his tally.

But England cannot complete a grand slam this season because their game against Ireland in Dublin has been postponed until the next European autumn because of Britain's foot-and-mouth crisis.

The Irish government is worried that travelling fans could carry the livestock disease to the republic. Ireland have postponed three games until the next season.

England began the game with confidence and Greenwood burst through the French defence to score in the sixth minute after the English backs smoothly moved the ball along the line to the left following a scrum five metres from the French line.

Wilkinson converted and then added a penalty to give England a 10-0 lead. But the French bounced back quickly.

In the ninth minute, Bernat-Salles was just stopped from scoring in the right-hand corner by a superb cover tackle by Balshaw.

Five minutes later, Bernat-Salles found his way to the line from exactly the same position after excellent handling in the French backs with fullback Jean-Luc Sadourny and flanker Olivier Magne joining the line.

Merceron converted and added a penalty to level the scores at 10-10 and then put the French in the lead with another penalty on the half-hour.

Two minutes later, France went desperately close to scoring another try when left winger Christophe Dominici sprinted down the left touchline.

But the wing just put his foot into touch before dotting down near the corner flag after another excellent tackle from Balshaw.

South Africa referee Tappe Henning needed to consult his video official before ruling out the try.

Merceron put the French 16-10 ahead with his third penalty, before the lead was cut to just three points at the break when Wilkinson became England's record points scorer with his second penalty.

Four minutes into the second half, England bounced back with a superb try from Hill who ran 30 metres down the right-hand touchline to score after scrumhalf Matt Dawson took a quick penalty.

Wilkinson's conversion from the touchline went over the posts to put the English 20-16 ahead.

Once Balshaw had scored, the French seemed to lose their will and England started to enjoy themselves on their way to victory.

- REUTERS

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