3.5 Million ABC1 Men Watch England Triumph

It was an emotional, hard-fought victory, but in the end the script only allowed for one winner, with England drawing on all their reserves of courage and indefatigability to defeat the French in their own back-yard.

In a match that gave new meaning to the word tense, England emerged triumphant at the end of 80 minutes, with a 14-9 scoreline carrying them into the final next Saturday.

A peak of 3.5 million ABC1 Men watched the ITV1 coverage, a 69% share of the audience.

Kicking off at 8pm, the match was only around a minute old when England burst into life, Josh Lewsey scoring the only try of the match.

However, after a stunning start, France edged their way back into it and they lead – albeit by just a point or so – for a large part of the match.

But when it mattered most, Jonny swung that boot again and a penalty and a drop goal took us ahead of our Gallic cousins, giving England a five point lead that they never looked like losing.

An average of 2.7 million ABC1 Men (a 58.4% share) watched the coverage, which finished at 10pm, and no doubt many of them were nursing hangovers on Sunday.

Below are two ads, from betfair and Magners, which played in the first break at half time during the England v France game.

On Sunday South Africa took on Argentina and despite the Argentineans displaying the pluck and verve we have come to expect from them, they were no match for South Africa, who ran out worthy 37 – 13 winners.

The coverage had a peak audience of 2.5 million ABC1 Men (a 44.6% share), with an average of 1.9 million ABC1 Men staying tuned for its duration.

All creatives provided by Xtreme Information

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com