Next week matters for Borthwick's men

"England's coach was philosophical after defeat in a match they were expected to win"

- PAUL REES

THERE is a danger of reading too much into a pre-World Cup friendly between two sides some way below strength, but the charitable view of England’s performance was that arriving in France in peak condition took priority over preparation for yesterday’s match.

England have made great play on how their conditioning, a weakness in the Six Nations when they tended to disappear in the final quarter, would be vastly better come the World Cup, but in Cardiff they were blowing early and when the home side increased the tempo after the break, they disappeared into the distance.

Tom Pearson was making his England debut on the openside after two campaigns for London Irish in which he stood out for his power over the ball and with it in hand as well as his awareness.

Test rugby is a few steps above and his first cap was a mixture of telling interventions and some awkward moments, not least when his opposite number Jac Morgan not only stopped him in his tracks but drove him backwards and into the turf.

With the England squad being announced less than 48 hours after the match, Pearson was one of a number of players who felt they had to make an impression. The former Wales flanker Sam Warburton, who was part of the commentary team at the ground, was a master at knowing when to intervene and when to bide his time.

Pearson wasted energy by committing himself to lost causes and at times getting exposed: he conceded the penalty near his own line that resulted in Leigh Halfpenny’s second penalty after England had taken a 6-0 lead, but no England player exceeded his 14 tackles and only Lewis Ludlam among the visitors’ forwards carried the ball further.