France, like England, will field a different side in Paris on Saturday from the one that lost at Twickenham last Saturday night and their captain, Thierry Dusautoir, will again be absent as he recovers from a leg injury sustained in training.
Philippe Saint-André, France’s head coach, said there was no danger of the 33-year-old back-row, the man of the match in the 2011 World Cup final, missing this year’s tournament and he expects him to be fit for the final warm-up match against Scotland on 5 September.
Saint-André said this month that France would be the surprise package in the World Cup after four underwhelming seasons since he took charge but Twickenham offered more evidence of their shortcomings, with strength in the set piece undermined by individual and organisational lapses.
France lost despite dominating possession in the first hour, winning the penalty count and twice having a man advantage when Sam Burgess and then Calum Clark were sent to the sin-bin. They were outscored three tries to one and struggled to cope with the pace and guile of England’s outside backs.
“We were disappointed with the result because we should have done better,” Saint-André said.
“There were positives, such as our scrum and a low penalty count, but we were naive at times and we showed a lack of patience when England were down to 14 players. We gave away possession too easily and, behind the scrum, we lost too many duels.
“We had more ball than England but the difference was they made seven line-breaks. We were not accurate enough when it came to the last or penultimate pass, attempting the impossible instead of keeping hold of the ball and having an additional ruck.”
France fielded a more experienced team than England but Saint-André said that 12 players who remained in Paris to train rather than fly to London would be involved in the return at the Stade de France when their opponents are expected to be at near full-strength.
Saint-André defended his decision to play Brice Dulin, a full-back, on the left wing at Twickenham where he was left flat-footed by Anthony Watson for England’s first try. Watson’s second came after Dulin had been temporarily replaced by a centre, Gaël Fickou.
“The whole point of a friendly match is to try players,” he said. “Brice was in trouble for the first 20 minutes but after that he played well. Watson plays at full-back for Bath and Serge Blanco, France’s best full-back, started his career on the wing. We have three wings in our squad and needed to assess our options.”
That said, Yoann Huget, who scored two tries in France’s Six Nations victory over England in Paris last year, and Noa Nakaitaci, a try scorer at Twickenham last March in his second Test appearance, are expected to start on the wing this weekend with Wesley Fofana and Mathieu Bastareaud available in the centre. Saint-André will announce his World Cup 31 on Sunday.
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