England crashed to a dismal 31-6 defeat against France in Paris, leaving their RBS 6 Nations Championship hopes hanging by a thread.

Andy Robinson’s men were punished for a shambolic first-half and never recovered from Florian Fritz’s opening try after 43 seconds.

Dimitri Yachvili, who finished with 16 points, booted France into a 16-3 lead before Damien Traille and Christophe Dominici rounded off the victory with second-half tries.
It was England’s seventh defeat in 14 Six Nations games since the World Cup and they must now beat Ireland next weekend and rely on France losing in Wales to stand any chance of winning the title. But on the evidence of this past weekend - Wales drew 18-18 with Italy - it is highly unlikely.

Meanwhile, Ireland stay on course setting up a potential Six Nations title decider against England with a bruising 15-9 victory over Scotland. Here is the standing of Six Nation action: 1.France 6 points, 2.Ireland 6 points, 3.England 4 points, 4.Scotland 4 points, 5.Wales 3 points, 6.Italy 1 point. The last matches are on Saturday March 18 at 3.30pm: Italy v Scotland, Wales v France and England v Ireland.