England 'dismal' in warm-up

England's Tom Youngs with blood on his face looks on during his side's defeat to France. Photo / AP

Awful, dire, dismal and sloppy. Just a few words used by British media to describe England's Rugby World Cup warm-up defeat to France this morning.

England trailed France 25-6 at Stade de France before scoring two late tries for a more respectable 25-20 scoreline. They have one final warm-up game against Ireland before the World Cup.

The 2003 champions host next month's tournament, opening the World Cup with a pool A clash against Fiji on September 19 before fixtures against Australia and Wales which should decide the two nations to advance to the quarter-finals.

The second-placed team is expected to meet South Africa in the quarters.

English rugby writers weren't impressed with what they saw this morning in Paris.

"It was one of the direst performances of the Stuart Lancaster era, as England were overpowered up front, eclipsed at the breakdown and played with an insouciance behind that suggested they were saving themselves for what lay ahead," Paul Rees of the Observer wrote.

Steve James from the Telegraph also didn't hold back.

"Forget the final scoreline, because England scored late tries when the game was long gone. This was a dreadful evening for them. Yes, it was only a warm-up Test away from home with rustiness an obvious companion for most of England's players and they finished admirably strongly, but this was a performance that will set all sorts of alarm bells ringing in the England camp," he wrote.

James also said that England were " simply smashed up front".

The BBC's Ben Dirs meanwhile described the defeat as 'a truly awful performance'.