England Can Nick Title Glory

Feb 24 2008 Dan Wallace Reports

France 13 England 24

ENGLAND revived their title hopes by winning in Paris for the first time in eight years.

Fly-half Jonny Wilkinson was the hero as he slotted a world-record 29th Test drop goal on his way to 14 points.

England flanker Nick Easter believes the result will help propel his side to the Six Nations title.

He said: "It's a massive springboard. To win here is a great result but we can't take a step backwards as we did after the World Cup.

"We've got to go to Murrayfield and I think we've a score to settle there."

England took the lead after just six minutes when a crunching tackle from Jamie Noon gave Paul Sackey the chance to run through and score.

Wilkinson landed the conversion then extended the lead to 10-0 with an angled penalty.

France put their first points on the board in 25 minutes when skipper Lionel Nallet dashed over from close range and Damien Traille converted.

England responded with a second Wilkinson penalty to make it 13-7.

France got to within three points soon after the interval when Morgan Parra knocked over a penalty.

With the French breathing down their necks Wilkinson failed to ease his side's nerves when he sent a 40-metre penalty narrowly wide.

But the England ace then hit his drop goal to beat the mark he jointly held with Argentina's Hugo Porta.

The kicker completed his penalty hat-trick before sub Dimitri Yachvili narrowed the deficit with a penalty.

France needed a converted try to win but it was England who scored at the death with Richard Wigglesworth going over for a try.