England vs. France: Winners and Losers from 2015 Six Nations Clash

Hearts were broken at Twickenham on Saturday as England overcame France with a 55-35 victory, but failed to beat their foes by a large enough margin to claim this year's Six Nations title.

Stuart Lancaster's side had to beat Les Bleus by 26 points or more in order to surmount Ireland and finish atop the standings, but Philippe Saint-Andre's men did just enough to deprive England of a 2015 crown.

Read on for a breakdown of the biggest winners and losers to emerge from Twickenham, with ramifications not limited to just those two teams taking part in the competition's curtain call.

Winner: Ireland

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It was just about enough for Joe Schmidt's side in the end. Ireland retain the Six Nations by virtue of points difference after England failed to beat France by a large enough margin at Twickenham.

The boys in green claimed a record-equalling 40-10 win at Murrayfield earlier on Saturday, giving the English a mountain just too steep to climb.

If being harsh, one could mark it down as a disappointment for England, but Ireland are deserving winners of their triumph, even if made to sit through some of the tensest minutes of rugby Irish fans will ever feel.

Back-to-back championships and potential send-off for departing captain Paul O'Connell may signal the end of an Irish era, but Schmidt deservedly keeps hold of the Six Nations title.

Loser: England

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Even in the wake of their victory, England lose.

Prince Harry was on hand to watch Lancaster's men huff and puff (and puff they did), but it just wasn't enough to blow the house down, or in this case overcome Ireland's table lead.

In the end, a 20-point win over Saint-Andre's side was just six points shy of being enough to clinch this year's title, after the rugby community witnessed one of the best matches likely to be played in this era.

France and England went blow for blow, point for point in an exhausting encounter that saw a bit of everything, but England will ultimately count this as a chance gone astray.

The visiting side missed kicks, let opportunities of their own slip by, and although a total 90 points were scored at Twickenham, England just couldn't assemble the lead necessary to grasp the trophy.

Winner: Ben Youngs

The last few years have seen Stuart Lancaster shuffle his scrum-halves about with some frequency, but Ben Youngs is doing his bit to tie down the No. 9 jersey ahead of a home World Cup.

Two tries on Saturday brought Youngs' tally up to three in the tournament, taking the initiative where he saw fit against Les Bleus, as well as assisting Ford for his 47th-minute score.

This was Youngs' second successive man-of-the-match outing following his display against Scotland, leaving no doubt as to who is currently favourite to steer Lancaster's pack for the foreseeable future.

Richard Wigglesworth has been the man providing cover at scrum-half and Danny Care now sits as something of a forgotten figure, but Youngs has rediscovered top form to give England hope of a cemented half-back partnership.

Loser: French Familiarity

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There were signs of it in Rome last weekend, but France once again demonstrated some terribly dysfunctional passages of play at Twickenham to showcase just how unsettled this back line still is.

Saint-Andre made the decision to ring the changes prior to his side's fourth-round encounter with the Italians, and it seems this new-look lineup is still finding its feet.

Ben Youngs' early score came as a result of awful miscommunication from the visiting team, and although France's fluidity improved as the game progresses, it was nonetheless evident this squad requires an extensive amount of time together.

It's unclear as of yet as to whether Saint-Andre will still be the man steering that ship come the end of 2015, but a lack of familiarity continues to plague Les Bleus.

With time, this brazen group of French players may come to assemble a devastating crew, but the gaps displayed on Saturday showed they're far from the finished article.

Winner: Nigel Owens

In a game of such importance, bad officiating would have been the worst possible culprit to blame for any contentious result; luckily, Nigel Owens was the man overseeing matters at Twickenham.

The man regarded by many as one of, if not the best referee in world rugby handled matters expertly and ensured the clutch fixture of this Six Nations came off without so much as a hitch.

The TMO referral for Noa Nakaitaci's try was given its due respect and, more importantly, Courtney Lawes' hit on Jules Plisson—and the resulting aftermath—wasn't blown out of proportion.

Lawes' tackle was rightfully judged as legal and all players remained on the pitch afterward despite any supposed indiscipline that emerged, making for the best spectacle possible.

The Welsh official's only criticism may be that too much time was spent going to the man upstairs with decisions, but in a fixture of this significance, who can blame him?