England staged a brave comeback to beat France at Twickenham
Eddie Jones’ men have now stretched their winning run to 15 successive Tests
It took a 71st minute try from Ben Te’o to secure them the win
England got the job done but were made to graft for their 19-16 win over France in their Six Nations opener at Twickenham on Saturday.
Although they got their campaign off to a winning start – and have now stretched their winning run to 15 successive Tests – Eddie Jones men will have plenty to work on.
Les Bleus were the better side in the first half but three penalties from Camille Lopez were cancelled out by two Owen Farrellefforts and a long-range kick from Elliot Daly, 9-9.
England improved and edged ahead 12-9, only for Rabah Slimani’s converted try put France back in the lead.
But the hosts finally clicked and Ben Teo’s converted try saw them squeeze home in the end.
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Teimana Harrison, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jack Nowell
Date: Saturday, February 4 Venue: Twickenham Kick-off: 16:50 GMT Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia) Assistant Referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa) TMO: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
