Indeed Martin Johnson's men who have been toothless in attack for a large part of the Six Nations scored the game's only try through Ben Foden's sixth-minute score.

But scrum-half Morgan Parra kicked three first-half penalties in addition to Francois Trinh-Duc's early drop goal as England were heavily penalised at the scrum.

And although England were much the better side after the break they only had a Jonny Wilkinson penalty to show for their efforts as they wasted two clear try-scoring opportunities.

France were able to control the possession in the later stages but were a shadow of the side that had looked irresistible throughout the tournament.

Ireland's defeat to Scotland earlier on Saturday had already guaranteed France the Championship but perhaps the greater prize lay in securing their first Grand Slam in six years against their bitterest of rivals.

England had won three straight Six Nations matches against their Gallic rivals and were returning to the scene of their 2007 World Cup semi-final victory over the tournament hosts.

But French fly-half Trinh-Duc immediately got the home side on the board with a scruffy drop goal.

England responded immediately on seven minutes as Northampton duo Chris Asthon and Foden recreated their club double act on the international stage for the first time.

Quick ball was recycled and superb hands all down the backline allowed debutant Ashton to offload to the flying Foden who scorched over in the corner.

Toby Flood nailed the touchline conversion before the rain started coming down which would limit further running rugby in the first half.

Parra missed a penalty to reduce the deficit before England lost Simon Shaw with a shoulder injury with Stade Francais lock Tom Palmer entering the fray in his home stadium.

Scrum-half Parra eventually found his range with an 18th minute penalty after Riki Flutey was penalised for playing the ball off his feet.

England were increasingly troubled by referee Bryce Lawrence's rulings particularly on his interpretation at the scrum.

Two penalties in the 23rd and 35th minutes against the Red Rose front row gave Parra the opportunity to put France 12-7 ahead at the break.

Martin Johnson responded to that problem area by hauling off Dan Cole and hooker Dylan Hartley with Dave Wilson and Steve Thompson taking their place at the coalface.

And the visitors enjoyed their best spell of the match immediately after the break.

But a missed Flood drop goal was all they had to show for their endeavours before Ashton wasted a glorious opportunity to join club teammate Foden on the scoresheet.

After being put into open space near the French 22, Ashton opted to kick ahead allowing covering full-back Clement Poitrenaud to gather the loose ball.

Ashton was not the only player to pick the wrong option as Parra boxkicked to no one after the French forwards had worked themselves into a good position but the second half remained scoreless.

The game remained tantalisingly poised and on the hour mark Cueto again split the French defence after picking a terrific line but scrum-half Danny Care knocked on at the crucial moment.

Soon after Wilkinson was introduced for Flood and virtually his first action was to nail a textbook penalty from on the right-hand touchline after France failed to release in a tackle.

With just two points in it, France abandoned their traditional ambitious rugby to try and eat up as much time as possible.

But no French supporter inside the packed Stade de France cared about their side's unadventurous if effective tactics as Les Bleus secured their ninth Grand Slam.