Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was sent off as England XV fell to a last-gasp 26-24 defeat against their French counterparts in a thrilling non-cap international at Twickenham.
The Exeter wing was making his first appearance since December after a serious shoulder injury as part of a young and inexperienced side under Steve Borthwick without 14 players due to British and Irish Lions call-ups, looking to provide a timely reminder of his quality after missing the Six Nations and perhaps state a case for late inclusion on the Lions tour to Australia.
However, Feyi-Waboso’s return after six months out proved short-lived and disastrous as his yellow card for a dangerous high tackle on French fly-half Antoine Hastoy late in the first half was upgraded to a 20-minute red following a bunker review, surely ending any Lions chances and leaving his involvement in England’s upcoming summer trip to Argentina and the USA in question.
The same fate would later befall French forward Cameron Woki in the second half following an illegal clearout on Jamie George at a ruck that saw a sparkling try from Nolann Le Garrec ruled out.
However, France would not be denied as Romain Taofifenua went over with a last-gasp try that was converted with minimal fuss by Hastoy to give Fabien Galthie’s experimental team missing their Top 14 semi-finalists and injury absentees such as Antoine Dupont the most dramatic of victories ahead of their looming tour to New Zealand.
Feyi-Waboso was the standout selection for England in a team co-captained by Jamie George and George Ford and featuring three uncapped players in Guy Pepper, Joe Carpenter and Seb Atkinson, plus two more on the bench in Harlequins duo Oscar Beard and Jack Kenningham.
Only Mickael Guillard’s heroic last-ditch defending denied Feyi-Waboso a comeback try within just a few minutes, with France then punishing repeated ill-discipline from Alex Coles as hooker Gaetan Barlot went over following a rolling maul.
Their second try arrived shortly after, lock Hugo Auradou managing to ground the ball despite Feyi-Waboso’s best efforts after a speedy break from Theo Attissogbe - starting at full-back after an injury to Leo Barre - that followed a quick turnover.
It was a sluggish and error-strewn start from England, but they soon responded after applying sustained pressure deep in the France 22, Tom Willis eventually diving over before Ford added the extras to bring them within five at 12-7.
France thought they were in for an intercept try after Henry Slade’s rogue pass, only to be stopped in their tracks by an offside call.
England were level just before the half hour, attacking cleverly off a lineout as Atkinson surged through and Coles was eventually put over before a missed conversion by Ford.
They almost had a third try a couple of minutes later after an intercept by Pepper, making his first England appearance only a week after playing a pivotal role in Bath’s dramatic Premiership final win over Leicester at the same venue, but charging prop Joe Heyes was brought down in the nick of time by French flanker Killian Tixeront and Attissogbe cleaned up.
Attissogbe was being tested plenty under the high ball at 15 before an over-eager Feyi-Waboso flew into a reckless high tackle on Hastoy and was sent to the sin bin, not to return after his yellow card was upgraded to a 20-minute red following a bunker review.
It looked like a disaster for England but they quickly rallied to go in at the interval with a seven-point lead against the odds, Carpenter scoring after another scything run from Atkinson and Ford slotting the conversion.
England’s 14 men started the second half brightly too and Sale full-back Carpenter was denied a second try after Slade was deemed to have knocked-on during a tussle with France captain Gael Fickou.
Beard’s introduction had the hosts back up to a full complement of players and they breathed a sigh of relief when Le Garrec broke wonderfully and converted his own score, only to see it disallowed for Woki’s shoulder making contact with the head of George during a ruck in the build-up, leading to a yellow for the Racing 92 forward that was also upgraded to red in the bunker.
Things went from bad to worse for France when the impressive Alex Dombrandt registered England’s fourth try off the bench after a break from Tom Roebuck, with the subsequent conversion missed to leave the score at 24-12.
But like England earlier on, Les Bleus were galvanised by their numerical deficit and poured on the late pressure, botching one lineout but afforded further chances by more England ill-discipline as Paul Mallez went over following a rolling maul.
The successful conversion made it just a five-point game and France were quickly back on the attack, kicking for another lineout deep in the English 22 after Atkinson’s no-arms tackle.
The England defence held out through wave after wave of attack with the clock in the red, but eventually the towering Taofifenua dotted down and Hastoy nailed the all-important conversion to snatch victory at the death.
