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England staged a brave comeback to beat France at Twickenham
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Eddie Jones’ men have now stretched their winning run to 15 successive Tests
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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 Farrell efforts 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.
France: Louis Picamoles
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
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Clément Maynadier, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Arthur Iturria, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Yoann Huget, 23 Jean-Marc Doussain
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)
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