Ntamack added the extra points and then converted a penalty to give France a 10-0 lead.
Charles Ollivon marked his first start as the newly anointed skipper with his side's second try which was also converted.
Though France went into the break leading 17-0, there was little triumphalism
Fears
In their first game of the 2019 Six Nations, they led Wales 16-0 at half-time. But then Wales came back to blitz them 24-19.
However England, playing their first competitive game since the loss in the rugby World Cup final ,showed no such gumption after the restart.
Ollivon added his second try of the encounter before Jonny May got England's first score after 58 minutes. The 29-year-old added England's second seven minutes later to cut the deficit to 24-14.
Owen Farrell kicked a penalty in the dying seconds to make the scoreline respectable.
"There's a lot of pleasure in a victory like that," said Ollivon. "We're trying to create something and we have good men in the team. We came here to win. We stayed calm and focused on the performance before the match. We did our work."
Daily news briefReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe
