A Six Nations triumph has been a long time coming for France. For a side who won the tournament five times between 2000 and 2010, truly dominating the first decade of the newly formed Six Nations as Italy joined at the start of the millennium, it’s hard to believe it has taken them this long to get their hands on the famous piece of silverware once again.
It’s not for the wanting of trying though. Les Bleus have been amongst the favourites to win the Six Nations with SkyBet for the last few renewals, but Fabien Galthié’s men just weren’t able to get over the line when push came to shove — losing out to England on points difference in 2020 before blowing perhaps their best opportunity yet when pretty much gifting Wales the title last year.
12 years on, it’s about time this golden generation, fronted by the likes of Antoine Dupont, Gabin Villière and Teddy Thomas, finally ended France’s lengthy drought. They are certainly on the cusp, but anything can still happen. So, as we await the final outcome of this year’s Six Nations, let’s take a look back at the last time France won the tournament — completing the Grand Slam in the process.
Round 1: Scotland 9-18 France – Murrayfield
France’s opening round win over Scotland at Murrayfield certainly wasn’t the most thrilling of matches, but that wouldn’t have fazed them. Christopher Paterson gave the hosts the lead with a penalty in the ninth minute before a try from Mathieu Bastareaud and a three pointer from Morgan Parra gave Les Bleus an 8-5 lead.
Another Paterson penalty in the 30th minute was better by a second try from Bastareaud three minutes later, this time converted by Parra.15-6 to France at the break, neither team could do much more in the second period other than add a penalty kick to both of their scores — finishing 18-9.
Round 2: France 33-10 Ireland – Stade de France
Dispatching of Ireland in fashion back on home soil, Parra opened the scoring with his boot in the 17th minute before William Servat scored the game’s first try 10 minutes later. That seemed to open up the game for a bit, with Ronan O’Gara responding with a penalty and Yannick Jauzion scoring the host’s second try all within a matter of minutes.
It took almost 20 minutes to get the first points of the second half on the board — Clément Poitrenaud scoring France’s third try to open the flood gates again. This time a drop goal and penalty for the hosts was wedged either side of a David Wallace try for Ireland. A Frédéric Michalak drop goal rounded off the scoring at 33-10 with two minutes to spare.
Round 3: Wales 20-26 France – Millennium Stadium
Back on the road again, France looked to be cruising towards an easy victory over Wales in Cardiff. Tries from Alexis Palisson and François Trinh-Duc, as well as two penalties from Parra, which gave the visitors a 20-0 lead over the hosts at the break. However, Wales came back out fighting in the second period.
Stephan Jones converted two penalties early on in the second half to get the hosts back with two tries of their opponents, and Leigh Halfpenny and Shane Williams delivered those scores to draw the game level. An amazing comeback wasn’t to be though, with a Michalak drop goal and a third Parra penalty meaning France survived the scare with a 20-26 win.
Round 4: France 46-20 Italy – Stade de France
France secured their first winning bonus point of the tournament with a high-scoring 46-20 win over Italy back at the Stade de France. Fast out of the blocks, Les Bleus scored three tries and a penalty by the 25th minute, but couldn’t get any more points on the board before half-time — taking a 22-3 lead into the second half.
Both sides converted a penalty early on in the second period, before Marc Andreu, Jauzion and Alexandre Lapandry then took France’s try tally for the game to six. With a 46-6 advantage, it’s fair to say the hosts took their foot off the gas a bit — allowing Italy to spare some of their blushes thanks to tries from Carlo Del Fava and Pablo Canavosio.
Round 5: France 12-10 England – Stade de France
Already crowned Six Nations champions by the time this game kicked off at 8pm, France secured their ninth Grand Slam title with a slender 12-10 victory over England in Paris.
All 12 of Les Bleus points came in the first 40 minutes, with Trinh-Duc scoring a dropkick in just the third minute before Ben Foden scored the only try of the game shortly after — giving England a 7-3 lead. Three penalties from Parra made it 12-7 at the break though, with Jonny Wilkinson scoring the points of the second half with a penalty.