England 26 France 18: Ireland's title hopes received a welcome shot in the arm this afternoon as England turned the Six Nations form book on it's head to knock a grand slam chasing French side out of their stride.

The title chase is now wide open as Toby Flood scored 16 points on his first Twickenham start but was overshadowed by debutant Shane Geraghty, who kicked a crucial penalty and set up the match-winning try for Mike Tindall eight minutes from the end of a tense, if scrappy encounter.

England scored two tries to none to inflict their first defeat on France since the 2003 World Cup semi-finals and restore their pride after their humiliating defeat by Ireland a fortnight ago.

Brian Ashton's men now have a glimmer of hope of taking the title but the biggest winners today could be Triple Crown champions Ireland, who go to Italy next Saturday knowing if they can better France's scoreline against Scotland by more than four points an elusive championship is theirs.

Flood scored his first try for England, supporting a break by veteran captain Mike Catt seven minutes into the second half and also kicked three penalties and a conversion.

He went off with a leg injury on the hour but Geraghty, the London Irish fly-half who could  have qualified for Ireland, proved a capable deputy as England deservedly clinched the spoils.