France clinch Grand Slam with victory over battling England in Paris

England produced a spirited display but their trademark resilience was insufficient to stop France from clinching the Grand Slam with a conclusive 25-13 victory in Paris.

Eddie Jones’ men were outscored 3-1 on the try count as they slumped to their third defeat of the Guinness Six Nations, an inglorious finish that has now been completed three times in five years.

The battling nature of the performance will spare Eddie Jones the harshest criticism, but another failed Championship places his position as head coach under renewed scrutiny with the World Cup just 18 months away.

England’s best period came immediately after half-time and produced a try for Freddie Steward, but France showed their mettle to sustain only limited damage during a difficult spell.

Antoine Dupont ran in Les Bleus’ third try, adding to the earlier scores by Gael Fickou and Francois Cros, to seize back control and had their execution been sharper they would have been out of sight long ago.

England were turned over time and again to hamper their efforts of registering an upset, but they finished strongly and refused to throw in the towel even as France threatened to cut loose.

Victories by Ireland and Italy earlier on Saturday meant the visitors were certain to finish in third place before a ball was kicked in Paris, any hope of winning the title evaporating with a record home defeat by Andy Farrell’s men in round four.

Their evening began with Jones being loudly booed when his name was read out during the boisterous pre-match entertainment and by its end England fans might have shared the sentiment.

A feature of the opening stages was the over-reliance on Ellis Genge, who was stationed in the backfield to run the ball back, but the ploy produced