France hang on to beat England in World Cup blow

England's World Cup warm-up preparations suffered a heavy blow as they lost 25-20 to France in Paris.

The hosts hit the front straight away as Scott Spedding successfully kicked a penalty, and fly-half Frederic Michalak took advantage of some ill-discipline by adding three more.

England number 10 George Ford finally got England on the board midway through the half with a penalty, but Michalak showed deadly accuracy by adding another for France.

After the break, Michalak set up winger Yoann Huget for the game's opening try as he skipped past two tackles and played a neat inside pass to Huget, who powerfully finished.

Another penalty followed for France, before England hit back through substitute Danny Cipriani in the 71st minute, as he collected a pass from Ford, side-stepped a tackle and scored a try.

Cipriani helped England set up a frantic finale as he created space for Billy Vunipola on the left. The number eight released Jonathan Joseph down the wing, and he scored England's second try.

The away side piled forward in search of a match-winning try, but France stole the ball in their own half and kicked it out to secure the win.