LONDON – An England side determined on getting a look at their young guns has thrilled in a 19-14 victory over France in Twickenham on Saturday.
New combinations were solid as they scored a number of tries through moves that looked fresh off the training field and were never really in danger of losing the match in front of 62,000 eager English fans. Most eyes were on league-convert Sam Burgess as he made his debut and he didn’t do his chances any harm by being staunch in defence and capable with ball in hand despite receiving a yellow card in the second half.
Outshining Burgess was his midfield partner Henry Slade who will most likely have locked up a World Cup spot with a fine performance. His sleight of hand, his rugby brain and his ability to cover the 10,12 and 13 positions with ease means he may become a crucial player for England at next month’s World Cup. In addition to the centres, the back-line was very adventurous in attack and it paid dividends with wingers Jonny May and Anthony Watson scoring tries.
On the other side of the park, France have showed the world very little in what they’re bringing to London next month and has continued a poor 12 months. If anything, they showed that the 9,10 combination of Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc is still France’s best moving forward. They weren’t completely outclassed with Parra keeping the score competitive however, they never looked like winning the match.