For three of the four quarters it was all pretty clear. England were having a stinker. It was one of those nights, of continental heat and heavy legs and unwelcoming hostility – a night far removed from the autumnal comforts of a home World Cup. It was plain plum bad.
At least clarity, even if it exposed a lot of frailties and made the notion of preparing meticulously across the time zones and height levels of the world seem a little excessive, was simple. You take a hiding and you move on. You may as well find out now that the set piece is under severe strain, that the timing of the backs is completely off and that confidence has been dented. You may as well discover now that the referee Jaco Peyper, who is going to be in charge of the first game of the World Cup, against Fiji, is not kindly disposed to a lot of what England do at the breakdown.
But what happens when the fourth quarter goes well? Not so well that the ludicrous scenario of England actually winning the game became a reality, but well enough to give a game that had been heading in only one direction had a right shakeup. England suddenly had a bit of zip, courtesy of Danny Care, and purpose. Jonathan Joseph was a centre transformed. Billy Vunipola, who had looked heavy and static, despite all the promise of a trimmed torso, was suddenly shrugging off tacklers.
To be part of the resurgence was certainly more encouraging with regard to surviving the trim of the squad from 39 to 31 than to take part in the first horror-hour. To be Danny Cipriani, coming on and playing as a sort of attacking sweeper, was to stake a claim in the most difficult of circumstances. To effect change when the entire mood of the game has been sour from the off is a considerable achievement. Care and Cipriani must at the very least have booked themselves a place in the serous discussions of the days ahead. Cipriani is special. Tricky but special.
There is another type of spin that can be applied to the last quarter. France had the game won and far from wishing to rub the victory in and put too many of their wares on the table, they rang changes of their own and ordered themselves into a semi-shutdown. The game was won. That was buzz enough and will do. Under Philippe Saint-André this was a novel feeling and there was no point on overdosing on it too soon. The game is done. Relax and enjoy it. That in its own right is very dangerous, and France nearly paid the price.
But goodness, the performance was more important than the result. Frédéric Michalak proved that, 14 years after first playing for his country, he has learnt how to control a game. He played with intelligence and yet with daring, with serious application but also with cheek. Of course, it was easier for him behind a pack that won all the big collisions, but the problem of the 10 shirt has dogged France for so long that to have found an answer in flaky Freddy was reward enough on this night.
Link Louis Picamoles – outstanding again – Wesley Fofana and Yoann Huget, and France will be in contention deep into October. They needed a boost to their morale; they succeeded in giving themselves one. They did not let England win – not that holding out was so very important – and the victory was a sweet accompaniment to the rediscovery of the bridge between forwards and backs. Michalak was good; France were good when it mattered.
So, England enjoyed a belated revival when France went into standby mode. Can Cipriani leap his way into the squad on the back of a cameo against relaxed opponents? He can only play what is in front of him.
There are graver problems to discuss. The England forwards have gone from being a collective in need of a technical tweak to a bunch of quivering wrecks. Inaccuracy abounds at the lineout and at the breakdown. Rob Webber, who took no part in this, must be the No1 choice now, if only because his throwing is less inaccurate than the others’. The scrummage looked almost as loose as the roots of the grass in the Stade de France. Graham Rowntree will be tempted to give the front fives the same treatment as the army of turf-repairers were dishing out in Paris – give them a good forking.
One faulty outing at the set pieces at home in the first warm-up at Twickenham was unfortunate. A second in Paris was alarming. England by tradition do not fall prey to shortcomings up front – or at least not without fixing them pronto. It simply does not happen. There is work to do and nobody, but nobody, is safe from the selector’s secateurs.
In reality, it was the first outing for most of these players and just as a certain latitude had to be shown – just as the substandard performance by Wales had to be viewed compassionately – so the England players who had a rude awakening here must be given a hearing. Tom Youngs will be better presumably in his second game. Dan Cole will perhaps get away with a little more over the ball with a different referee. Except time is pressing and maybe you only have a few minutes to prove yourself.
Those that did take their chance have the right to suggest that having done everything that was expected of them – and in the most exacting of circumstances – they can hardly be discarded now. Cipriani and Care have played their way into more than just the discussion surely. If an hour of ugly rugby shows one thing it is that predetermined logic may no longer apply. If Cipriani is a strength in the quarter-hour of need, he should be played to.
Eddie Butler’s England 31
Full-backs: Mike Brown, Alex Goode; Wings: Jonny May, Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson; Utility back: Danny Cipriani; Centres: Brad Barritt, Luther Burrell, Jonathan Joseph, Henry Slade Fly-halves: George Ford, Owen Farrell; Scrum halves: Danny Care, Ben Youngs
Loosehead props: Joe Marler, Mako Vunipola; Hookers: Jamie George, Tom Youngs, Rob Webber; Tighthead props: Dan Cole, David Wilson; Second-rows: George Kruis, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Geoff Parling; Flankers: James Haskell, Tom Wood, Calum Clark, Chris Robshaw; No8s: Ben Morgan, Billy Vunipola
