Following France’s emphatic 35-19 win over England in their non-cap friendly in Vannes, here are our takeaways from a sun-drenched Stade de la Rabine.
The top line
Benhard Janse van Rensburg blew a golden chance to mark his first appearance for his adopted country with a try as England’s dreadful start to 2026 continued in Brittany.
Two days before Steve Borthwick names his squad for the inaugural Nations Championship, a team of predominantly fringe players was well beaten by a more cohesive France XV in this non-cap clash.
Borthwick hoped victory at Stade de la Rabine would help turn the page on the country’s worst ever Six Nations campaign. Instead, an error-strewn performance reminded him how much work there is to do.
Van Rensburg‘s contribution rather summed up the evening for the visitors. Off the bench and desperate to impress on his first appearance wearing the rose, the South African ran onto a George Ford pass only needing to catch the ball to score – and spilled it.
France far too good
Three months after coming within seconds of beating France in the Six Nations, England were no match for Les Bleus on the Brittany coast.
For context, they selected only three of the 23 that played in Paris, Seb Atkinson, Caden Murley and Marcus Smith. Whereas France, benefiting from Bordeaux’s shock failure to make the Top-14 playoffs, had a large number of European champions to call upon.
Yet so much of England’s failing was self-inflicted. Harry Randall and Smith each kicked out on the full, lineouts were stolen or not thrown straight, too many balls to count went to ground.
But it was when the benches were cleared that the real pain began. England’s scrum was no match for the power coming at them. They became so discombobulated that their concentration went as well.
With a minute to go every England player had his back turned as Baptiste Jauneau took a quick tap-and-go and linked with Fabien Brau-Boirie, who sauntered clear untouched for France’s fifth try.
Reasons to be cheerful for England
Well, England scored with their opening attack when Murley finished off a sweeping right-to-left move, fending off Theo Attissogbe to touch down in the corner.
They also ended the half with a tidy try after Noah Caluori was sent up the middle and fed Smith, who stepped inside the full-back to score.
There was the welcome sight of George Martin, now of Saracens, back in an England shirt for the first time since February 2025. Tom Curry also enjoyed game time for the first time since finally recovering from the grade 3 calf tear that had sidelined him since early March.
Asher Opoku-Fordjour proved he can hold up a scrum on the loosehead and Max Ojomoh returned to England colours for the first time since his player of the match display against Argentina in the autumn and marked the occasion with a last-minute try. That, however, is about the size of it.
Blamire rains on Noah’s parade
The big hope, from an English point of view, was that Caluori would transfer the brilliance of his debut club season onto the international stage.
Only one player in Gallagher PREM history has scored more tries in a season than the 19-year old’s 18 in 13 matches this term, Exeter number eight Sam Simmonds in season 2020/21.
Could he take that deadly finishing and become a lethal weapon on the international scene? Could all those fans clamouring for him to be thrown into the Nations Championship mix have their prayers answered.
The first thing to say is he let nobody down. He leapt high to claim a restart, twice came off his wing to assist with tries. He chased, he tackled and he thought he had scored himself after beating France on the outside and haring clear.
Unfortunately, the 53rd minute score was chalked off because Jamie Blamire, newly arrived from the bench, knocked on in the build up.
His time will undoubtedly come. But right now, does he get in on the wing ahead of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman and Tom Roebuck? No he doesn’t.
Is he right there alongside Murley and Henry Arundell? Absolutely. Throwing him in against South Africa at Ellis Park would be unfair. Giving him a start off the bench against Fiji makes more sense.
What of England’s prospects?
A year ago England made a dog’s dinner of this fixture at Twickenham. They led by 12 points with five minutes left and found a way to lose, allowing Romain Taofifénua to score the winner two minutes after the clock entered the red.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
What harm did it do to their summer? None at all, as it happened. Ford and Jamie George pulled a squad together missing 13 Lions and led them on an unbeaten tour of the Americas; beating Argentina, twice, and the United States.
The difference this time is the quality of the opposition is far higher. The Springboks are on a different level to the rest at the moment. England then face the logistical challenge of flying back to Liverpool for another hugely physical encounter (against Fiji), before boarding another long haul flight to Argentina.
The worry is they have no momentum and confidence, whatever anyone says, cannot be high. Borthwick could desperately do with tapping into the buccaneering belief of his Northampton players and the never-say-die spirit of Exeter lads like Henry Slade and Feyi-Waboso.
READ MORE: PREM Rugby final: Prediction, players to watch, kick-off time, TV coverage and more