A late Gael Fickou try paved the way for a dramatic 26-24 victory for France over England at the Stade de France in the Six Nations.

The hosts got their campaign off to the best possible start, courtesy of Yohan Huget's try in the opening 30 seconds of the contest.

The ball bounced nicely for the Frenchman to run into the corner and cross the line, although the resulting conversion drifted wide of the sticks.

England were back in the contest almost immediately through Owen Farrell's penalty, but France soon regained their five-point cushion after Jean-Marc Doussain kicked home a penalty of his own.

France continued to attack, and it paid off when Brice Dunlin's chipped ball over the top bounced between a couple of white shirts, before Huget took advantage to cross the line with ease. However, the home side again failed in their attempt at the conversion.

Les Bleus didn't hold back and further extended their lead through Doussain once more, with the youngster kicking over to make it 16-3 with just over 20 minutes on the clock.

With the first half edging out, Mike Brown got England's first try of the Six Nations after crossing the line following some quick thinking from Danny Care to cut the interval lead to eight points.

Shortly after the restart, Luther Burrell touched down on his England debut to bring the visitors level. Billy Vunipola burst through the French pack before offloading to Burrell, who went between the posts, with Farrell converting to put Stuart Lancaster's men into the lead for the first time.

Care extended England's lead further as he slotted over a drop goal from close range, before Machenaud kicked over to lead the French comeback with 10 minutes remaining.

In a frantic closing stage to the match, Alex Goode added to the England scoring through a penalty, but Gael Fickou run through to touch down under the posts with just two minutes remaining.

Machenaud stepped up to convert, with France seeing out the remaining time to pick up the victory.