LONDON -- England fell agonizingly short of winning the Six Nations after a wild 55-35 victory over France left Stuart Lancaster's side six behind Ireland on points difference and runner-up for the fourth straight season on Saturday.

Needing a 26-point winning margin to overhaul the Irish after their record-equaling win over Scotland hours earlier, England scored seven tries at Twickenham but also conceded five in an end-to-end game that capped one of the most gripping days in the tournament's history.

A converted eighth try would have pushed England past Ireland and there was a chance in the final seconds when a maul -- involving almost every player on England's team -- rolled to within inches of the French line.

The Twickenham crowd roared them on, but the maul was held up and referee Nigel Owens awarded a penalty to France for an infringement by England replacement Billy Twelvetrees. Seconds later, France substitute Rory Kockott kicked the ball dead to end the game.

"It will go down as one of the great games of rugby," said Lancaster, speaking around the same time as Ireland captain Paul O'Connell lifted the trophy inside Murrayfield.

England racked up a half-century of points against France for the first time, with scrumhalf Ben Youngs and winger Jack Nowell each scoring two tries and Anthony Watson, George Ford and Billy Vunipola also crossing. Ford had 25 points.

"To put it into context," said a bewildered Lancaster, "we're sat here disappointed but put 55 points on France."

The margin of victory lifted England above Wales by a points difference of four. It was the third straight year that England finished second on points difference.

The French played their part in an enthralling spectacle, delivering some of the so-called "French flair" that they'd lacked for years, and scored a record number of points against the English away from home.

"I'm not bitter, but it was an amazing game, very fantastic," France coach Philippe Saint-Andre said. "At the highest level when you have the opportunities, you need to score. And, again, we were Father Christmas -- we missed 15 points in kicks, and it's difficult to win at Twickenham when you do this."

France finished fourth in the standings, having started the day with the slimmest of chances of winning the title.

England beat France by the required 26-point margin only on two occasions since World War II, in a Six Nations match in 2001 and in a World Cup warm-up in 2003.

It was a huge challenge -- especially since France conceded only two tries in this tournament -- but Youngs' try after 92 seconds made Twickenham believe.

France centre Gael Fickou fumbled under pressure, Jonathan Joseph picked up the loose ball and raced forward before Mike Brown and Ford set up Youngs to get over in the right corner.

The French hit back with 15 points in a six-minute spell that ultimately cost England dear.

Sebastian Tillous-Borde pounced on turnover ball following Courtney Lawes' fumble to sprint 50 metres, easily outpacing prop Dan Cole, for a try. Then hooker Guilhem Guirado passed out to Noa Nakaitaci, and the Fiji-born winger cruised over in the left corner and dotted down, a split-second before planting his boot beyond the dead-ball line. The 18th-minute try needed the say-so of the television match official -- and Nakaitaci feared embarrassment at one stage.

With a Jules Plisson penalty, France was suddenly 15-7 up, and England faced a fight just to win the match, never mind go for the title.

England ended the first half excellently, though, as James Haskell popped a pass for Watson to score from close range in the right corner, and Youngs nipped in between the posts after Joseph received a quick lineout on his own tryline, and sprinted 60 metres upfield.

England restarted 27-15 ahead -- almost halfway to the required winning margin -- but conceded within three minutes when Maxime Mermoz crashed over from Guirado's superb offload.

That fired up the home side, with Ford popping up on the shoulder of Youngs after the scrumhalf's piercing break to go over in the 47th, and Nowell evading two tackles to finish well in the left corner.

Prop Vincent Debaty scored France's fourth try while Haskell was in the sin-bin for tripping Plisson, and the teams traded further tries to Vunipola and France replacement Benjamin Kayser.

Nowell's second try, in the 75th, set up a tension-filled climax but England couldn't complete the job.

"I'm devastated," man -of-the-match Youngs said.