The bigger tests are to come for England but as preparations for the World Cup go, this was about as perfect as it gets.
France are not on the level of Australia and New Zealand, the two sides who will pose the greatest threat to England’s hopes of lifting the World Cup on home soil this autumn. But as the fifth-best side in the world and the next best in the northern hemisphere behind England, they were certainly a test on the level the head coach, Craig Richards, would have wanted.
