France 22 England 9:The next time England play on French soil there will be, as Lawrence Dallaglio tersely put it, "no safety net" to break their fall. At this rate a very painful return to terra firma awaits the estwhile world champions next month, their significant limitations having been exposed for all to see on a warm, clear Provençal Saturday evening.
Even if untimely injuries to Phil Vickery (concussion) and Martin Corry (knee) do not end up causing long-term disruption, the soothing medical updates cannot mask an increasing sense of foreboding. As the players drifted toward the team bus shortly before midnight, senior squad members did not hesitate to offer their own honest assessments, not least Simon Shaw.
"We're too one-dimensional and there's no interplay between the forwards and backs," he sighed. "Either the forwards take it on or the backs take it on, there's no real mix."
Barely had Shaw delivered his stinging verdict when it was Dallaglio's turn. "We didn't have a cutting edge, that's pretty obvious," he muttered. "There's no second chance now."
Moments earlier Josh Lewsey had summed up the situation: "Playing like that isn't going to be good enough at this World Cup."
Never mind South Africa, if a red-shirted England remain this monochrome they can expect a Pool A beating from Samoa and will be home before the knock-out rounds.
In a sense, England were simply living down to expectations. This was their 15th defeat in their last 16 away Tests. In two successive games against France they have failed to score a try.
Forwards and backs, as Shaw observed, are still not operating remotely in tandem; England's starting line-up, incidentally, was drawn from nine different clubs, while Toulouse and Biarritz supplied 11 of the French XV between them.
The lack of variety in Brian Ashton's 30-man World Cup squad has been exposed alarmingly early. Even when England did have decent ball they ended up down a succession of culs-de-sac, apparently lacking the wit or inclination to do anything else.
It should be stressed, too, France tackled magnificently. Their defensive barricade, erected by their English expat Dave Ellis, is formidable, and the targeting of Jonny Wilkinson - "We got into him in a big way, like we have done before," purred Ellis - exacerbated the visitors' problems. But as Ellis also revealed, France took one look at the new midfield pairing of Andy Farrell and Dan Hipkiss and knew they stood little risk of being ripped to shreds by sleight of hand or fleetness of foot. As long as they remained firm around the fringes they would be fine.
The upshot was a statistics sheet showing neither side made one clean line-break in 80 minutes. Deprived of the forward platform they enjoyed the previous week, England tried their utmost but were muzzled after a decent opening quarter, their discipline and composure also fraying.
This was a good game to miss for anyone keen to start against the Springboks on September 14th. None of the fringe candidates - Farrell, Nick Easter, Steve Borthwick - gained more than a temporary foothold and Mark Cueto had a confidence-shredding nightmare at fullback.
It might have been less depressing had England chanced their arm and lost more heavily, as distinct from bashing their heads against a dark-blue wall in which Thierry Dusautoir was outstanding. They were a shade unlucky, too, that Shaw was in the sinbin for a marginally high tackle when Yannick Jauzion scored France's only try, but to concede 15 penalties and free-kicks is asking for trouble.
Had Jean-Baptiste Elissalde not missed three penalties, or Yannick Nyanga not dropped the ball over the line, or Imanol Harinordoquy not crassly ignored the overlapping Clement Poitrenaud with a try begging, English misery would have been total.
France will feel encouraged. They may not win the World Cup but it will take a good side to pierce them casually through the heart in front of their fiercely partisan supporters.
Supporters of England will soon appreciate how spoilt they were in 2003. Even Wilkinson is struggling to dig them out of the manure this time and the big win over Wales a fortnight ago looks more Pyrrhic by the day.
No team has ever retained a Rugby World Cup. It is not going to happen in 2007 either.
FRANCE: C Poitrenaud; C Heymans, D Traille, Y Jauzion, C Dominici; F Michalak, J-B Elissalde; Milloud, Ibanez, Poux; Pelous, Thion; Nyanga, Dusautoir, Harinordoquy. Replacements: Nallet for Pelous, Bruno for Ibanez (both 59 mins), Bonnaire for Nyanga (61 mins), Mas for Poux (64 mins), Mignoni for Elissalde (67 mins), Skrela for Traille (72 mins).
ENGLAND: Cueto; Lewsey, Hipkiss, Farrell, Robinson; Wilkinson, Perry; Freshwater, Regan, Vickery; Shaw, Borthwick; Corry, Rees, Easter. Replacements: Stevens for Vickery (41 mins), Dallaglio for Easter (52 mins), Sackey for Lewsey (62 mins), Worsley for Rees (64 mins), Barkley for Corry (73 mins), Gomarsall for Perry (79 mins). Sinbined: Shaw (40 mins).
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland).
