Twickenham hasn't held many pleasant memories for the French in recent years, not least their last visit. A topsy-turvy, ball-bouncingly entertaining encounter ended with the final score at 55 – 35 to England – yes, Les Bleus got over 30 on the board, but it was still a mighty fine spanking. Perhaps then, as they approached this World Cup warm-up game, and with two second string sides named, they felt that this encounter may be a tad gentler on ego and on body. Possibly, until they checked the England line-up and, amongst several other exciting debutants – such as Henry Slade – saw the headline-making name of S.Burgess next to the number 12. If you're hoping for an easier ride at Twickenham (a 'friendly' if you will) you probably don't want to face a 6 foot 5, 18 stone pile of ex-international rugby league muscle that's desperate to prove a point.
It didn't take very long for Burgess to introduce himself to the Twickenham crowd, however. Well, it certainly didn't take long for the ex-League superstar to introduce his shoulder to the chest of Dimitri Swarzewski, anyway, as he smashed the French hooker backwards with one of the first hits of the game. Despite that, the French held on to possession with worrying ease and indeed came close to scoring as Remi Lamerat grubbered ahead to exploit acres of space behind the defensive line, only for the electric Johnny May to chase back well and win the race to the ball by a whisker (or a fingertip). Perhaps it was the fact that England lacked punch without Courtney Lawes and Tom Youngs in defence, and the ability to challenge for the ball offered by Chris Robshaw and Dan Cole, but Les Bleus were able to build the phases comfortably and well deserved their three points, courtesy of the boot of Morgan Parra, when the hosts infringed.
The lead didn't last for long, however. Skipper for the day, Tom Wood, elected to put a kickable penalty into the corner and, although the driving maul splintered, Ben Morgan wriggled infield. From there, it was another debutant – Henry Slade – who pulled the strings, pulling the ball back across to the blindside in an attempt to exploit a brief overlap. The ball came back to Anthony Watson and, although Bruce Dulin had done well to cover across in the first place, the Bath flyer skinned his man in about two metres of space to scorch over into the corner. It was mesmeric stuff, reminiscent of Jason Robinson v Chris Latham in 2001, and Owen Farrell followed it up with a superb conversion to put England 7 – 3 ahead.
Seven minutes later and England, with unnerving precision, were at it again. Slade, Burgess and Farrell all combined in a wrap-around move, but it was the injection of sheer pace by May that sucked in the outside defenders and gave Watson room to tear down the wing and do a lovely in-and-out to score his second in the right hand corner. Unforgivably, Farrell missed the touchline conversion, but England were 12 – 3 up after 20 minutes, and were flying.
Unfortunately, after that, the English backs had their wings clipped somewhat by an increasingly dominant French pack. Despite Burgess creaming opposite number Alexandre Dumoulin with another classic hit, the forwards were starting to look significantly second best. The scrum was starting to creak and a couple of infringements, by both Mako Vunipola and then Kieran Brookes – who had both been lively in the loose – led to Morgan Parra clawing back the scoreline with two well-struck penalties. These sandwiched a barnstorming stampede upfield by a resurgent Louis Picamoles, who gave a reminder of just what the French have missed over the last couple of years with some brutal carries – the number 8 was eventually hauled down by Morgan, who showed impressive pace to track back, but things did get worse for England when Burgess was shown yellow for grabbing at Parra as the scrum-half scooted away following a quick tap. Given the location of the offense, a yellow card from John Lacey was a pretty harsh call, but England still finished the half 12 – 9 up with 14 men on the field.
The momentum may have been with the visitors at the end of the first 40, but it was the men in white who charged out of the blocks in the first half. The French ballsed up a defensive lineout which was snaffled up by Rob Webber and, after some sumptuous hands by Slade, Alex Goode chipped a delightfully across to May, who scooted over for a well-deserved try.
It was exceptional vision and use of space by an England side that was still down one man, but in all honesty it was the last bit of supremacy they had in the game, as the French bludgeoned their way to dominance in the set piece and at the breakdown. The hosts' cause wasn't helped when debutant Calum Clark was shown a yellow card for a dangerous 'neck roll' clearout - the kind of clear out that would probably have been ignored just a few months ago but is now on the referees "hot list". Harsh or not harsh, it's not a great clearout technique in any event and France set about laying siege to the England line, with Uini Atonio coming within millimetres of scoring - only for Geoff Parling and Burgess to force a drop over the line, when for all the world it looked as if the giant prop would (and should) score.
However, the French – and the English luck – wouldn't hold out for much longer. Shortly after Kieran Brookes left with a nasty-looking wrist injury that made it seem as though he had stuffed a tennis ball down his arm, a well-worked rolling maul by Les Bleus splintered the white pack and the impressive Fulgence Ouedraogo crashed over the line for a hard-earned try. Parra missed the conversion, but the England pack was worryingly under the cosh now, with debutant Luke Cowan-Dickie throwing everywhere except to his receivers in the lineout and both substitute props Dave Wilson and Alex Corbisiero getting a work over in the scrum. It wasn't much better in the loose either, although James Haskell showed his class by weighing in with a couple of superb turnovers at critical times, probably putting Tom Wood's hopes of starting in the 6 shirt to bed in the process.
By the time that 80 minutes ticked over, the flamboyant sense of exhibition rugby had long passed and the desire just to escape with a win had taken over, as the ball was booted deep into the stands to confirm a 19 – 14 win for the hosts. It would be just as easy to get carried away with the problems with the forward pack as it would be to bang on about Sam Burgess, Henry Slade, and the precision and talent of the English backline but, at the end of the day, these were second-string sides and there were good displays and poor displays across the park - that's what helps Stuart Lancaster pick his squad, and makes sure those who he picks are in form. And that, at this stage, is all that matters.
Player ratings
1. Mako Vunipola - 7 - Struggled at times in the scrum but barrelled around the park to pretty good effect. Looked fit and up for the fight, making more metres than any other forward.
2. Rob Webber - 5 - He still looks like a local chippy to me but perhaps I'm being harsh. Solid about the park but the lineout did creak at times.
3. Kieran Brookes - 6 - Like Vunipola, was under pressure in the set piece but put himself about very well in the loose before a nasty-looking wrist injury ended his day.
4. George Kruis - 6 - Seemed to struggle a bit with the physicality as the game went on but was an athletic presence in the lineout and got about the park well.
5. Geoff Parling - 7 - His work in the loose was impressive and again he carried to pretty good effect. Has to take a bit of blame for the lineout wobbles though.
6. Tom Wood - 6 - He's still not really hit the heights of two years ago, has he? Struggles to dominate the breakdown or the contact area despite obvious commitment to the cause.
7. Calum Clark - 4 - I'm not a huge fan of Clarke and he was pretty ineffectual until his dangerous clear out saw him yellow-carded. It was probably a bit unlucky, but that'll put his World Cup hopes to bed. No real threat over the ball, either.
8. Ben Morgan - 5 - It was just good to see him get through 80 minutes and he'll improve - he has plenty of credit in the bank - but we only saw him with the ball in hand on the charge twice, and neither time in space. Hopefully we'll see more of him soon.
9. Richard Wigglesworth - 6 - Did what he does well - kick intelligently and provide good service, despite a couple of loopy passes, but didn't offer much of a breakdown threat (one lovely pass to Vunipola aside).
10. Owen Farrell - 6 - Didn't get a whole lot of good ball to work with but he was smart and efficient when spreading the play.
11. Johnny May - 8 - He does look lively and focussed. I had my doubts about retaining May but he's one of the quickest players in the world and he caused France plenty of problems in the wide channels.
12. Sam Burgess - 7 - A very solid debut, despite a slightly harsh yellow card. A couple of crunching hits showed what he's selected for but I think he carries the ball too high to be really effective on the charge. Still a better 6, and in fact it still came across as if he was just a flanker playing in the centres.
13. Henry Slade - 8 - I said that Slade could turn out to be the more significant debut and I can smugly say that I think I was right. Some delightful touches and his composure in the backline sees him leapfrog Twelvetrees and potentially Burrell in the race for the centre spots.
14. Anthony Watson - 8 - The Bath man looks very, very sharp indeed on that right wing spot. He beat Bruce Dulin in a phone box for his first try and his second showed good finishing instinct. Always beat players with the ball in hand. Man of the match.
15. Alex Goode - 7 - Grew into the game as it wore on, culminating in some good footwork and a brilliant kick-pass for May's try. Has potentially sealed a squad spot.
Subs - 6. Nothing of note aside from the excellent James Haskell, who nabbed two key turnovers during his 40 minutes and looked like one of the few forwards up for the physical battle with the French, and the very disappointing Luke Cowan-Dickie, whose throwing was sadly all over the shop on debut.
By the time that 80 minutes ticked over, the flamboyant sense of exhibition rugby had long passed and the desire just to escape with a win had taken over, as the ball was booted deep into the stands to confirm a 19 – 14 win for the hosts. It would be just as easy to get carried away with the problems with the forward pack as it would be to bang on about Sam Burgess, Henry Slade, and the precision and talent of the English backline but, at the end of the day, these were second-string sides and there were good displays and poor displays across the park - that's what helps Stuart Lancaster pick his squad, and makes sure those who he picks are in form. And that, at this stage, is all that matters.
Player ratings
1. Mako Vunipola - 7 - Struggled at times in the scrum but barrelled around the park to pretty good effect. Looked fit and up for the fight, making more metres than any other forward.
2. Rob Webber - 5 - He still looks like a local chippy to me but perhaps I'm being harsh. Solid about the park but the lineout did creak at times.
3. Kieran Brookes - 6 - Like Vunipola, was under pressure in the set piece but put himself about very well in the loose before a nasty-looking wrist injury ended his day.
4. George Kruis - 6 - Seemed to struggle a bit with the physicality as the game went on but was an athletic presence in the lineout and got about the park well.
5. Geoff Parling - 7 - His work in the loose was impressive and again he carried to pretty good effect. Has to take a bit of blame for the lineout wobbles though.
6. Tom Wood - 6 - He's still not really hit the heights of two years ago, has he? Struggles to dominate the breakdown or the contact area despite obvious commitment to the cause.
7. Calum Clark - 4 - I'm not a huge fan of Clarke and he was pretty ineffectual until his dangerous clear out saw him yellow-carded. It was probably a bit unlucky, but that'll put his World Cup hopes to bed. No real threat over the ball, either.
8. Ben Morgan - 5 - It was just good to see him get through 80 minutes and he'll improve - he has plenty of credit in the bank - but we only saw him with the ball in hand on the charge twice, and neither time in space. Hopefully we'll see more of him soon.
9. Richard Wigglesworth - 6 - Did what he does well - kick intelligently and provide good service, despite a couple of loopy passes, but didn't offer much of a breakdown threat (one lovely pass to Vunipola aside).
10. Owen Farrell - 6 - Didn't get a whole lot of good ball to work with but he was smart and efficient when spreading the play.
11. Johnny May - 8 - He does look lively and focussed. I had my doubts about retaining May but he's one of the quickest players in the world and he caused France plenty of problems in the wide channels.
12. Sam Burgess - 7 - A very solid debut, despite a slightly harsh yellow card. A couple of crunching hits showed what he's selected for but I think he carries the ball too high to be really effective on the charge. Still a better 6, and in fact it still came across as if he was just a flanker playing in the centres.
13. Henry Slade - 8 - I said that Slade could turn out to be the more significant debut and I can smugly say that I think I was right. Some delightful touches and his composure in the backline sees him leapfrog Twelvetrees and potentially Burrell in the race for the centre spots.
14. Anthony Watson - 8 - The Bath man looks very, very sharp indeed on that right wing spot. He beat Bruce Dulin in a phone box for his first try and his second showed good finishing instinct. Always beat players with the ball in hand. Man of the match.
15. Alex Goode - 7 - Grew into the game as it wore on, culminating in some good footwork and a brilliant kick-pass for May's try. Has potentially sealed a squad spot.
Subs - 6. Nothing of note aside from the excellent James Haskell, who nabbed two key turnovers during his 40 minutes and looked like one of the few forwards up for the physical battle with the French, and the very disappointing Luke Cowan-Dickie, whose throwing was sadly all over the shop on debut.
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