England XV player ratings v France XV: ‘Nightmare’ 0 mark for Feyi-Waboso on his comeback and bench also struggle in a defeat snatched from jaws of victory
Dejection for England at full-time versus France
England will fly out on Tuesday for their Americas tour, which starts in Argentina and ends in the USA, frustrated by their cruel last-gasp 24-26 loss to France. Here is how we rated Steve Borthwick’s players in this uncapped international at Allianz Twickenham.
England player ratings
15 Joe Carpenter: Exited hurt on 62 minutes after a pleasing one-try contribution – a well-finished 40th-minute score – that would have been two had a Henry Slade knock-on not been spotted by the TMO to cancel out a 51st-minute touchdown. His confident attitude was encouraging, given it was his turned-over carry to a ruck that resulted in the second France try, an error followed by a sloppy step into touch after a catch. 7
14. Tom Roebuck: The energy-sapping conditions meant this wasn’t an afternoon for the widemen to shine. They toiled chasing kicks under the summer sun, and it took an age for Roebuck’s brightest moment to arrive, demonstrating good handling and nifty footwork in a gallop to the 22 in the creation of the Alex Dombrandt try. 5
13. Henry Slade: An afternoon of swings and roundabouts for the midfielder. Deserves kudos for the quality of his touch-finding kicks from penalties and he also gave the assist pass for the Dombrandt score. On the debit side, though, he needed an offside call from earlier in the play to save himself the embarrassment of conceding an intercept try. Then came the knock-on in his jump with Gael Fickou that chalked off Carpenter’s second score. 6
England stretch the lead! 😍
Alex Dombrandt scores in the corner! 💪
Watch on YouTube below! 👇#ENGvFRA
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 21, 2025
12. Seb Atkinson: One of the two uncapped players in this starting XV, he was an important cog in the momentum-shifting wheel that took England from a sorry-looking 0-12 deficit into a 24-12 lead. Fans will be curious why he didn’t touch the ball down himself for the Carpenter try as he was initially over the line and should have grounded, but his offload from the floor was supreme. His encouraging performance endured a late mishap, though, as his penalised no-arms tackle allowed the French to gain territory and build pressure for their game-winning attack. 7
11. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso: 182 days after his last club or country match, his comeback from injury was a nightmare. Fumbled an early chance to finish; then couldn’t prevent Gaetan Barlot from grounding for his score. His day ended abruptly with a 34th-minute yellow card upgraded to red by the foul player bunker deciding there was a “high degree of danger with no mitigation” in his swinging arm assault on Antoine Hastoy. 0
10. George Ford: An important fixture following his limited Six Nations, Saturday’s co-captain was heading for a higher rating than six as he more than played his positive part in helping England to hit back from the concession of two early tries and also cope with the 20 minutes down a man to Feyi-Waboso’s red card. However, with Jamie George off, the out-half can’t be pleased with how it all ended for his team as he was the senior man tasked with ensuring they didn’t have victory snatched away from them. 6
9. Ben Spencer: Back at English rugby HQ a week after expertly influencing Bath in their league title win, he made things look easy with his composed contribution once England got over the hump of their early concessions. However, he was another senior player who finished in the dock over the way the match concluded. 6
The forward pack
8. Tom Willis: Like Pepper, his influence was missed when England lost their way in the closing minutes. Willis only played for 55 minutes, but he was integral to their comeback, scoring with a pick-and-drive on 24 minutes and regularly muscling in on the action to annoy the French. 8
7. Guy Pepper: Another uncapped starter and another title-winning member of the Bath contingent, he had co-skipper George name-dropping him soon after full-time for an impressive display. His steal of possession, which nearly had Heyes scoring, was a highlight. The pity was that he was taken off on 62 minutes and England missed him coming down the finishing straight. 7
6. Ted Hill: The second of the three England starters who gloried on the Twickenham pitch last weekend with Bath, he put in a display that left you wondering why he isn’t used more often at international level. His massive energy was witnessed on 65 minutes with how he ran like a winger and then accurately kicked ahead. 7
5. Nick Isiekwe: His energy and level of physicality were important in England rallying following their poor start and the game appeared to be won by the time he made way on 70 minutes with Chandler Cunningham-South coming on. Didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. 6
4. Alex Coles: Followed on from his tremendous Champions Cup form with Northampton with another decent effort here despite his early penalty concession allowing France the territory to craft their opening try. The lock produced an excellent finish to bring his side level at 12-all, and he then went on to make light of what the French pack had to offer. There was to be a sting in the tail, however, as it was his failure to catch a Theo Dan throw on halfway in 78 minutes that allowed the French to instigate their result-changing period of pressure. 7
SCORES LEVEL! 💪@ajccoles gets us back in the game! 🔥
Watch England XV v France XV on YouTube below! 👇#ENGvFRA
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 21, 2025
3. Joe Heyes: Similar to fellow prop Baxter, this was an outing with plenty of positives for the trade-learning tighthead. His set-piece across his 62 minutes was reputation-building and his best moment in the loose, a cracking break from a Guy Pepper pass, was cruelly denied a scoring finish as he was hauled down and his resulting offload went into French – not English – hands. 7
2. Jamie George: Back from his training cameo with the Lions, the other England co-skipper was effective – not only in the way he contributed to general play but also in how he managed communication with referee Hollie Davidson. Look at how he was in the official’s ear diplomatically when alerting her to the ‘tucked shoulder’ tackle on him. That intervention led to a France try being disallowed and Cameron Woki getting a yellow that was upgraded to red – and he exited on 68 minutes with England comfortably ahead. If you had to nit-pick, his lineout overthrow with England five metres from the line on 51 minutes was frustrating. 7
1. Fin Baxter: The apprentice enjoyed another positive step forward in his promising career with the consistency of his scrummaging and his industrious work rate about the pitch on a humid day not designed for the heavies to impress. 7
Replacements: England paid a heavy price for an indisciplined finish, seeing a 24-12 lead transformed into a two-point defeat through the concession of converted tries on 75 and 83 minutes. Aside from Dombrandt, who scored on the hour, the English subs collectively didn’t bring sufficient energy to protect the foundation laid by some of the impressive starters they replaced. 3
