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World Cup Warm-Up | World Cup Warm-Up
Aug 15, 2015 at 8pm UK
 
England
19-14
France
Watson (11', 19'), May (47')
FT
Ouedraogo (62')

Anthony Watson brace leads England to victory over France

Anthony Watson scores two tries to help England earn a 19-14 win over France at Twickenham.

Anthony Watson scored two tries as England continued their preparations for the World Cup by recording a 19-14 victory over France at Twickenham.

France were the first on the board when Morgan Parra split the posts with the first of his three first-half penalties, but it was Stuart Lancaster's side who always looked the more threatening.

The first try of the night was scored in style as England kept the pressure on after deciding against attempting to draw level with a penalty, and a long spell in possession was completed when the impressive Henry Slade found Watson, whose pace took him over the line in the corner.

Another fine move allowed the hosts to extend the lead as Sam Burgess, Owen Farrell and Jonny May all combined to set up Watson for his second try of the evening.

Farrell was unable to find success with his second conversion, and a pair of Parra penalties either side of Watson's second try ensured that France remained in touch.

Despite impressing for much of his debut, there was a disappointing moment for Burgess late in the first half when he picked up a yellow card for pulling back Parra as the Frenchman took a quick penalty.

After Watson had stole the show in the opening 40 minutes, May took the opportunity to impress on the opposite wing five minutes into the second half when he reacted quickest to Alex Goode's kick to cross over following clever work by debutant Slade early in the move.

Farrell made up for his earlier miss by converting from close to the touchline, before regular changes from both coaches affected the flow of the contest.

England appeared to struggle as the pace of the match slowed and France capitalised on Calum Clark's visit to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle when Fulgence Ouedraogo peeled away from the line-out to pull his side within five points, but Parra's replacement Rory Kockott missed with the conversion attempt.

Individual mistakes dominated the closing stages of the contest and England benefited from their fast start by holding on for the victory in front of the Twickenham faithful.

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