14-man England fall back into bad old ways

FRANCE scored two tries in the opening 10 minutes and two more in the final 10.

- PAUL REES

They did little in between except give away penalties and possession but it was enough against an England side that kept too firm a grip on the hand-brake.

When replacement No.8 Alex Dombrandt scored England's fourth try on the hour with Cameron Woki off the field for a dangerous clear-out on Jamie George, there should have only been one winner.

The action of Woki, back in a much-changed side having fallen out of favour in the last year, cost France a try that would have levelled the scores at 19-19 when Leo Berdeu's catch led to Nolann le Garrec sprinting over.

It was the time for England, who had played with calculation and caution on a stiflingly hot afternoon, to accelerate but their decision to go 6-2 on the bench backfired and they ended up in the recently familiar position of losing a match late on that they should have won.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso's yellow card that was upgraded to red for a high tackle on Antoine Hastoy meant Oscar Beard was on the field after 53 minutes and when Joe Carpenter limped off on the hour; scrum-half Raffi Quirke had to play out of position.

It meant Ben Spencer, whose control had helped England recover from 12-0 down to a score away from winning, had to stay on and England were denied the impetus Quirke would have looked to provide.

Going 6-2 meant there was no outside-half on the bench and, like Spencer, George Ford, who had exploited France's excitability and indiscipline, kept the arm on France's throat rather than squeezing it, once kicking for touch 35 metres out.