You had to be there. In front of the television, in the stadium, it hardly matters: you had to be there. Because there are matches that count. And others that are burned into the collective memory. On Saturday night at the Stade de France, the Crunch between France and England may just have crossed that line.

Eighty minutes of rugby at a dizzying tempo, pushed to its limit, thirteen tries scored, a scoreline worthy of a Super Rugby match and a decision at the end of stoppage time. By the time Thomas Ramos tipped the contest with a penalty after the hooter, the match had already taken a place of its own in the history of the Six Nations.

The records tumble

In terms of pure spectacle, it is hard to find a more spectacular Crunch. Rarely had a France-England fixture in the Six Nations reached such a points total. The attacks were on top almost throughout, the defences buckled and the lead swung from one side to the other like a boxing match.

But what gives the match its particular dimension is above all the script. For a long time, England looked capable of spoiling the French party. The visitors, our finest enemies, led, scored again, answered every French surge. The Stade de France went through every emotion, from euphoria to anxiety.

The Crunch is often described as a contest apart in world rugby, a duel loaded with history and rivalry. Witness that pre-match ceremony. But, for all the scripts already set in stone, it has rarely served up such intense drama. England thought they had pulled it off, France simply refused to yield, and every attack looked capable of deciding the destiny of the title.

Add to that the individual feat of Louis Bielle-Biarrey. With four tries in the match and nine across the whole edition, a 120-year-old record brought down, the France wing produced a performance that will live in the competition’s annals. A night of fire for a player who has become, in a matter of months, one of the leading figures in French rugby. And in world rugby.

France, the most decorated nation

The context adds still more to the significance of this match. Thanks to that win snatched amid the madness, France won the Six Nations and became the most decorated nation since Italy joined the competition in 2000. One more line in a golden period for French rugby.

So, is this Crunch the greatest in history? The question will stay open. Purists remember tighter but no less intense encounters, tactical battles and narrow wins forged in tension. Or indeed the humiliations… Here, both teams rose to their best at the same moment, in the cool of Paris and the roar of a euphoric Stade de France.

But in terms of spectacle, of script and of raw emotion, few France-England matches have reached such excess. A game where everything ran away with itself, where rugby looked like a whirlwind, and which ended in an explosion of joy.

Sometimes, sporting history hinges on a detail. On Saturday night, it came down to one kick. And to a Crunch that many will never forget. Let us at least thank the English for that. Because history is being written once again with them, or thanks to them.