England needed a bonus-point win against France to keep the Six Nations title from Ireland, but a drab performance in 22-16 defeat in Paris handed a third championship in five years to Joe Schmidt's side.
Eddie Jones' side backed up their lacklustre defeat to Scotland with a very ordinary display in Paris and they set their stall out early with Owen Farrell pointing to the posts inside four minutes.
It was a first-half dominated by the kicking tee as Farrell -- plus a long-range effort from Elliot Daly -- and Maxime Machenaud cancelled each other out.
While England suffered a blow 23 minutes in with Nathan Hughes going down in agony before being helped from the field by two medics, the closest either came to scoring was a kick through from Jonny May which saw Remy Grosso beating Daly to touch the ball down in the try-scoring area.
In attack England lacked any really penetration with Daly, Anthony Watson and May not providing the type of threat that was hoped, and the teams headed towards the break at 9-9.
But a lifeless game was ignited eight minutes into the second half when England paid for spurring an opportunity in the French 22, as Mako Vunipola got isolated and Mathieu Bastareaud got in to win the penalty.
That provided France with some much-needed respite and within minutes Jaco Peyper was standing in front of the England posts. After a break from their superb captain Guilhem Guirado, Peyper had his hand raised for a penalty advantage as England infringed at the breakdown.
That gave Francois Trinh-Duc the freedom to opt for a cross-kick to the left corner, and after Remy Grosso tapped the ball back to Bejamin Fall, the French fullback was stopped by a high tackle from Watson.
With Fall clutching his neck, Peyper went to the TMO and with replays bringing boos from the home crowd, the South African referee sent Watson to the sin-bin and raised his hand under the posts to award a penalty try.
From that point France took control. First another turnover inside the French half saw a lightning break from Grosso down the left touchline. With ball recycled France went left and Machenaud sniped for the line but was up over the line.
With a man in the bin, England won the scrum penalty and cleared but minutes later they were on the back foot once again as another infringement at the breakdown saw Machenaud push the French lead out to two scores.
England were thrown a lifeline with six minutes remaining after a superb break from Ben Te'o. It ended with replacement Mike Brown kicking into the corner, giving France the lineout five metres from their own line.
Maro Itoje's pull on Yacouba Camara's arm went unpunished and the ball came back on the England side. Going through the phases France were held at bay on a number of occasions, before the ball went wide to Daly on the touchline. He neatly batted the ball down to May who ran in to score.
Farrell converted to bring them to within three points, but Machenaud replied to secure a 22-16 win for France and gift Ireland the Six Nations title.
