Assistant coach Andy Last admitted “disjointed” England weren’t good enough in a flimsy win.
Crucially, St Helens star Jack Welsby helped stir them into action after falling behind 8-0, staving off any threat of nosediving to a first defeat against France in 43 years. But the mid-season international - their only action before the autumn’s two-Test series against Samoa - all felt a bit farcical in front of a tiny Toulouse crowd. England, who gave debuts to Wigan hooker Brad O’Neill, Castleford centre Sam Wood, Hull KR loose forward Elliot Minchella and Huddersfield prop Oliver Wilson, endured a shocking build-up.
Head coach Shaun Wane was unable to attend their training camp after complications with an ankle operation meant further surgery on Tuesday. Catalans No2 Last was delayed getting into camp after issues with his flight. And ex-Wigan boss Wane, who sent an SOS to Perpignan-based ex-England captain Sam Tomkins to help coach the squad in France, could only add his input from afar as he recovered in hospital.
England players might have been happy about that as the fiery 59 year-old would undoubtedly have been fuming about their performance early on here. The nervy visitors were all over the place and clearly rattled by a fired-up France. Last admitted: “There’s been a fair bit of disruption this week with my non-appearance on the first day due to flight issues, Shaun’s issues with his ankle operation and that [display] was probably a reflection of the week we’ve had.
“It was disjointed; there were some really good parts and then some ordinary parts. Shaun messaged our analyst at half-time. He wasn’t happy with some of our contacts and that was delivered to them. There were periods where we weren’t where we need to be as England.
“But it’s a great lesson for us. The four debutants were solid and Jack [Welsby] is a real, real quality player. The fact he’s only 22 and already has so much big-game experience, we’re very lucky as a nation to have someone of that quality in the No1 position.”
When Matty Nicholson spilled under a heavy tackle, Laurent Frayssinous’ side opened the scoring with barely two minutes on the clock. Arthur Mourgue dabbed in a perfect grubber for London winger Hakim Miloudi to score. Mourgue converted from wide and, after Wigan prop Luke Thompson coughed up more ball, he also added a penalty for an 8-0 lead on 20 minutes.
But England sorted themselves out with a purple patch of three tries in just eight minutes. As is so often the case, mesmeric Welsby was the instigator. He spotted space down a short side to raid forward and get Tom Johnstone motoring before accepting the return pass and brilliantly touching down in the corner.
Harry Smith converted and, in the next set, Welsby gave Harry Newman a run from near halfway, the centre doing well to put Leeds team-mate Ash Handley over. Winger Handley got a second soon after when Johnstone raided down the left, zig-zagging through before switching play to Newman who again showed composure with the final pass. George Williams’ superb cut-out pass saw Catalans winger Johnstone get in himself in the 32nd minute.
Fragile France were grateful Smith was off with his kicking [missing four of his eight attempts overall] meaning his side only led 18-8 at the break. Wane’s side were let off the hook when Leeds second-row Mickael Goudemand spilled over the line in the 51st minute. Smith did get a kick right to dink over for Nicholson to score and ease the pressure.
And Welsby added his second following a slick move before Williams crossed when backing up Mikey Lewis’ break, Johnstone rounded things off with his second. Last added: "I thought Tom Johnstone was outstanding."