Lewis Moody's first outing as England captain ended in a narrow defeat as France clinched a Grand Slam in the RBS 6 Nations.
Leicester Tigers flanker Moody took over the captaincy in his 61st Test appearance after Steve Borthwick was ruled out by a knee injury on Friday, and he played his part in a gutsy team performance which ended in a 12-10 defeat in Paris.
“We created opportunities and we got within touching distance at the end,” said 31-year-old Moody.
“It is an incredible feeling to captain your country and it was one of the proudest moments of my life, without a doubt.
"It's so frustrating, we were so near. But I'm very proud of the boys, they worked so hard, it was a real squad effort, and I couldn’t have asked for any more.
"We played a lot of rugby but unfortunately we just couldn't finish it off."
Tigers colleague Toby Flood started the game at fly-half and landed a superb touchline conversion from Ben Foden’s try to give England an early 7-3 lead, but the hosts kept chipping away with penalties from Morgan Parra to secure the Grand Slam.
Leicester forwards Louis Deacon and Dan Cole also started the game, while Ben Youngs was an unused replacement after picking up his first senior cap last weekend against Scotland.
Martin Castrogiovanni played the full 80 minutes of Italy’s defeat in Wales, while Geordan Murphy also had a disappointing end to the Championship as Ireland were beaten by Scotland in their final appearance at Croke Park.
Leicester Tigers flanker Moody took over the captaincy in his 61st Test appearance after Steve Borthwick was ruled out by a knee injury on Friday, and he played his part in a gutsy team performance which ended in a 12-10 defeat in Paris.
“We created opportunities and we got within touching distance at the end,” said 31-year-old Moody.
“It is an incredible feeling to captain your country and it was one of the proudest moments of my life, without a doubt.
"It's so frustrating, we were so near. But I'm very proud of the boys, they worked so hard, it was a real squad effort, and I couldn’t have asked for any more.
"We played a lot of rugby but unfortunately we just couldn't finish it off."
Tigers colleague Toby Flood started the game at fly-half and landed a superb touchline conversion from Ben Foden’s try to give England an early 7-3 lead, but the hosts kept chipping away with penalties from Morgan Parra to secure the Grand Slam.
Leicester forwards Louis Deacon and Dan Cole also started the game, while Ben Youngs was an unused replacement after picking up his first senior cap last weekend against Scotland.
Martin Castrogiovanni played the full 80 minutes of Italy’s defeat in Wales, while Geordan Murphy also had a disappointing end to the Championship as Ireland were beaten by Scotland in their final appearance at Croke Park.
