7 February on this day…
WING David Rees is spectacularly upended by French scrum-half Philippe Carbonneau on England’s first ever visit to the Stade de France in the 1998 Five Nations. England lost, just as they did last week in Paris, but in this case they were well beaten (24-17). Clive Woodward, in his first season as England coach, admitted: “The scoreline flattered us.” Rees scored three tries in his 11 caps, the most memorable against the All Blacks at Twickenham in 1997 when facing the mighty Jonah Lomu. Rees collected in his own half, chipped ahead and left Lomu standing, gathered, side-stepped Zinzan Brooke and dived over in the corner. Picture: COLORSPORT/Stuart MacFarlane