When these sides first met, five years after King Edward VII took the British throne, England were victorious as they were on 18 out of the 21 occasions prior to the Second World War. The scoreline at the Parc des Princes in Paris on March 22 1906 was 35-8 to a visiting English side that had been playing rugby since 1871.

The rules of scoring in the early years of rugby union weren't ideal for attacking teams, a try worth just three points. Try conversions and penalty goals were the same as today but a drop-goal was worth four, even more useful for teams leaving it late to secure a victory.