England's summer began with a chastening lesson in Brittany, a much-changed France XV running out 35-19 winners over an experimental England side in Vannes on Friday.
Steve Borthwick had deliberately thrown the dice. With Northampton and Exeter players held back before Saturday's Premiership final, and senior figures such as Maro Itoje, Ben Earl, Ollie Chessum, Ben Spencer and Joe Heyes left out of the matchday squad entirely, this was a makeshift England in everything but name — a non-cap fixture used to widen the player pool before a daunting Nations Championship tour.
It started perfectly. Inside 50 seconds Cadan Murley finished in the corner after Seb Atkinson, Harry Randall and Noah Caluori shifted the ball wide, the kind of slick first-phase strike that hinted at what a settled side might offer. France, themselves missing Top 14 semi-finalists from Toulouse, Racing 92, Stade Francais and Montpellier, simply had more cohesion — seven of their starters came from European champions Bordeaux-Begles.
Nicolas Depoortere, back for the first time since dislocating his shoulder against Scotland in the Six Nations, barged over on eight minutes, and Gregoire Arfeuil followed soon after for a 14-5 lead. England hit back on the stroke of half-time when Marcus Smith, combining neatly with George Ford, stepped off his left foot and went under the posts to make it 14-12 at the break.
The contest turned in a five-minute spell after the restart. Scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec, playing at his boyhood club, scampered over before Antoine Hastoy finished another sweeping move that England could never pin down. With the visitors' set-piece wilting in the final quarter, a defensive lapse let Baptiste Jauneau tap and go through midfield to send Fabien Brau-Boirie under the posts for 33-12. Max Ojomoh's late try, off a flat Ford mis-pass on the final play, was scant consolation.
The result, though, was always secondary to the experiment. Borthwick has been candid that the summer is about minutes for fringe players and rest for his most-used Test men — Itoje chief among them.
"Any discussion with a player about missing an opportunity to represent their country is challenging," Borthwick said of his captain's break. "Maro is fully on board with the plan."
His selection philosophy leans on exposure to pressure. "We want players playing in big games, competing for trophies and hopefully being involved in tight games where decisions have to be made, much like in Test rugby," he said. "I want players playing in as many big games as possible because that is good for the England team, but each decision is taken on an individual basis."
There were still positives to bank. Borthwick will have noted the energy of wings Murley and Caluori, the work of flanker Ted Hill and a lively cameo from replacement scrum-half Raffi Quirke. Planet Rugby's player ratings singled out Murley as having "pushed his case" for a starting role in the Tests to come, while judging that Caluori looked "not out of place" on the bigger stage.
The reality check could hardly be better timed. England open their Nations Championship away to South Africa in Johannesburg on 4 July, before facing Fiji and Argentina on successive weekends. On Friday's evidence, Borthwick's blueprint still has plenty of gaps to fill.
