Owen Farrell's comments after French clash

A late try by England lock Maro Itoje sealed a much-needed win for England against France at Twickenham in a hard-fought Round 4 clash.

England captain Owen Farrell was proud of his charges and what they managed to achieve after what has been a disappointing competition for the defending champions so far with losses against Scotland and Wales in Rounds 1 and 3 respectively.

“France are a brilliant team and this was a proper, proper Test match,” said Farrell. “I thought it was a great game of rugby. There were ups and down throughout and it was nice to come out on the right side of it.

“The belief in what we were doing [pleased me most]. Off the back of a few disappointing results, when things don’t go your way it can be easier to go within yourselves.

“But I thought we were growing throughout the game. When the pressure came on, we looked at our best and that was a great thing to be a part of.”

England will close off their campaign with a match-up against fourth-placed Ireland in Round 5 and will be looking to finish off on a high.

“We want to win, of course we do,” added Farrell. “We feel like we’ve been growing all the time through this Six Nations but obviously there’s results we’re not so proud of and performances we’re not so proud of.

“But we feel this is going to bring the best out of us and that we’re growing – I think that showed here.”