England captain Maro Itoje lauded his side’s desire and heart following their dramatic win over France on Saturday, but warned it was “by no means perfect” as they aim to keep improving.
The hosts looked set for another tight defeat at Twickenham when France winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored with five minutes remaining, with the resulting conversion putting the visitors 25-19 ahead.
However, England fought until the death and got their reward, with veteran Elliot Daly scoring just to the right of the posts before Fin Smith, in his first start for England, slotted the conversion to earn his side a 26-25 victory.
After seven defeats in their last nine, most of which came in tightly contested games where England faded in the closing stages, Itoje praised his side’s belief and desire on Saturday.
“Well, five minutes, in some ways that seems like not a long time but it actually is quite a long time,” Itoje told a news conference when asked what his thoughts were after Bielle-Biarrey’s try.
“I guess the ambition and the mindset was just to go after it, go after the win, be aggressive and we were close enough to win.
“So we knew that we needed a score and big credit to the team, to the boys. They were brave, they were wanting to attack, they were wanting to go after France and I’m very happy that we were able to do it.”
The match was riddled with errors from both sides and England made mistakes throughout the match, which either invited pressure on themselves or let France off the hook.
Itoje said while they’ll enjoy the victory, the review will be as honest as ever with plenty to work on.
“Obviously this win is special,” Itoje said. “We’ve worked hard at it and it wasn’t easy against a very talented French team, but we know there’s so much in us so we’ll want to stay consistent.
“This game was by no means was perfect. I know Steve and the coaches, come the next training day, is going to give us an honest review like he always does regardless of the result.
“So we’re happy with the win, but we know there’s definitely things to get better.”
Scotland are next for England at Twickenham in two weeks’ time, as they bid to beat their old rivals for the first time in four years.
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