Warm-up games tell us everything and nothing and here, ultimately, was another example of it. The real answers are not yet available and not all the questions being asked in mid-August will be strictly relevant. To a large extent it was sufficient that England won at home, showed a few inspirational flashes and kept the medical staff largely underemployed.
A hard-earned if flawed victory will always rate higher than an unscheduled defeat on these occasions and the final ledger contained three sharp tries to supplement the coaches’ overriding sense of relief. If Stuart Lancaster, as he may well do, makes 14 changes to his starting XV for the return fixture in Paris on Saturday, it will reinforce the continuing dress rehearsal theme.
And yet, as Sherlock Holmes would point out if he was assessing this particular case, what did not happen can often be highly significant. Too few of England’s pack dogs barked on this still August night with, for example, the lineout creaking slightly and the scrum verdict inconclusive.
France may have displayed glimpses of promise in other areas but their defence on the flanks was shaky in the extreme. Above all, there is no sign of being closer to solving the biggest puzzle of the lot, namely the finer details of England’s World Cup midfield blend.
Even Lancaster is beginning to sound less certain than he was a few days ago. Last week he dropped a strong hint that selecting both Henry Slade and Sam Burgess in his final 31 would be too big a punt. Now, having given both their first Test caps, he has subtly changed his tune. “I didn’t say I couldn’t pick both of them. I said it would be a big step,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it is a shoot-out between two players. I’ve still got three good centres who haven’t played yet.”
What is unquestionably true is that Slade has further complicated the equation with a bright, composed debut performance which fully justified his selection. His strengths – a cultured left boot, good awareness and lovely distribution – just happen to be areas in which England are not massively blessed. Pitting him against Burgess – defensively strong, physical and hungry for work – is to compare apples and oranges but, between them, the pair offer rather more variety than, say, a duet between Burgess and Luther Burrell. If Burgess and Burrell make the final cut alongside Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph while Slade does not, it will not be a triumph of imaginative, proactive selection.
It boils down, as ever, to balance. Not even Burgess’s greatest admirer, Russell Crowe, would champion his pace and elusiveness but England clearly fancy a gladiator capable of rattling a few opposition breastplates. The official stats suggested Bath’s cross-code signing topped England’s tackle count and, with Manu Tuilagi unavailable, Lancaster is not too concerned about the former South Sydney Rabbitoh’s lack of subtlety.
“He’s prepared to get off the line and hit people. When you lose someone like Manu, you’re looking for that blend in your backline. Sam provides that balance and runs good lines.”
Even the coaches’ frustration at the big man being sent to the sin-bin for obstruction will be mitigated by the knowledge England still need punch to complement the pace that yielded two tries for Anthony Watson and another for Jonny May. Mako Vunipola carried the ball only for a modest 18 metres but that ended up being only seven metres fewer than the other seven starting forwards combined. It would be surprising if Billy Vunipola, Tom Youngs, Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchbury do not rumble around to greater effect at the Stade de France this weekend but Lancaster needs as many direct ball-carriers as he can find.
He and Graham Rowntree will also demand improvements in discipline – two yellow cards in the games against either Wales or Australia could well be fatal to England’s chances of topping Pool A – and set-piece accuracy. Luke Cowan-Dickie may have the best mullet hairdo to grace Twickenham for at least two decades but the Exeter man’s work rate around the field is yet to be matched by the consistency of his lineout darts. Saracens’ Jamie George, who will presumably get his chance this weekend, may have edged up the hooker ratings without even taking the field.
France, either way, will be interested to discover if they can replicate the late forward momentum which, for a second or two, threatened a visiting win in the final quarter. Lancaster conceded England had “put ourselves under pressure” and it took the arrival of Alex Corbisiero to stabilise the home scrummage and secure victory in the 100th game between the two countries. “I’m delighted we won because there was a point at the end where I thought we might not and then I’d have been really disappointed,” admitted Lancaster.
The inevitable disruption caused by second-half replacements clearly had some effect but it was a different game whenever Watson had the ball.
Few wingers anywhere possess such devastating footwork and his first try after 10 minutes will give the flat-footed Brice Dulin recurring nightmares. On the flip side France could have registered three tries themselves with slightly more composed finishing, not least when the forceful Louis Picamoles made a total hash of what should have been a routine left-to-right scoring pass after bursting clear up the middle.
It was a reminder to England that nothing is guaranteed in a month’s time, a message reinforced by the results from Auckland and Buenos Aires. This is shaping up as the tightest of World Cups and no one will be judging the hosts on their warm-up results should they bow out prematurely.
England Goode (Cipriani, 49); Watson, Slade (Twelvetrees, 65), Burgess, May; Farrell, Wigglesworth (Care, 49); Vunipola (Corbisiero, 62), Webber (Cowan-Dickie, 55), Brookes (Wilson, 55), Kruis, Parling (Attwood, 55), Wood (capt), Clark, Morgan (Haskell, h-t).
Tries Watson 2, May. Cons Farrell 2.
Sin-bin Burgess 35, Clark 53.
France Spedding; Guitoune, Lamerat, Dumoulin (Fickou, 65), Dulin; Trinh-Duc (Tales, 61), Parra (Kockott, 61); Debaty (Chiocci, 52), Szarzewski (capt; Guirado, 53), Mas (Atonio, 51), Flanquart, Maestri (Vahaamahina, 65), Nyanga (Goujon, 56), Ouedraogo, Picamoles.
Try Ouedraogo. Pens Parra 3.
Referee J Lacey (Ireland). Att 63,113.
