England get the better of France in World Cup warm-up
Yelllow card spoils Burgess’ fine debut
LONDON: Anthony Watson scored two excellent first-half tries and fellow wing Jonny May also crossed as England beat France 19-14 in a World Cup warm-up between two largely experimental sides at Twickenham on Saturday.
The two wingers are already certainties for Stuart Lancaster’s final squad and of those hoping to join them, Henry Slade took the honours ahead of fellow debutant Sam Burgess in what is likely to be a head-to-head battle for one remaining centre berth.
Rugby league convert Burgess showed plenty of trademark big tackles and some deft handling but blotted his copybook when he was yellow-carded for interfering at a tap-penalty, exposing the lack of union experience that might make him just too much of a World Cup risk only months after his switch.
Slade, on his part, delivered an assured, high quality display of creative play that will have impressed the coaching staff.
Callum Clark was another who spoiled his debut with a yellow card. Already fighting to shake off a reputation for ill-discipline, the flanker looked distraught when he trudged off after being sin-binned for a dangerous clear-out at a ruck knowing his tournament chances had probably gone.
“It’s good to start the three warm-up games with a win, especially at Twickenham,” said England skipper Tom Wood. “We knew France would come looking to give us plenty of problems and it was as tough as I thought it would be.”
England went into the game with three uncapped starters and another on the bench while France coach Philippe Saint Andre, already a renowned shuffler, was in similarly experimental mode.
Watson scored the opening try after 10 minutes with a quick-footed shuffle to create space where there was seemingly none but his second seven minutes later was the result of some sparkling interplay by Slade, Burgess and May.
France struggled to make much headway but three penalties by Morgan Parra kept them in the game as they turned round 12-9 down.
While Burgess was watching from the bin early in the second half, Slade made the most of his moment in the limelight with a classy flicked pass as England scored their third try. After the usual wholesale changes, France took control of the scrum and their pack drove Fulgence Ouedraogo over for their only try after an hour.