England claimed their first win of the Under-20s Six Nations as they ran in five tries to down France in a hectic affair at Sandy Park.
The hosts were dominant from the set-piece throughout, with two penalty tries reward for their efforts from both the scrum and the line-out.
France battled for a bonus point, missing out narrowly at the death, but England will be buoyed by a statement win after last week’s loss to Ireland.
England made a blistering start to proceedings, threatening France with dominant territory from the off, but for a knock-on just metres out seemingly halted their progress.
But all was not lost: a big push from the resulting scrum turned the ball, and a measured blindside pass found Ollie Sleightholme who was left with the simple task of crossing in the corner.
The scrum again bore fruit for England, with Jean-Baptiste Gros shown yellow after France conceded a series of penalties at the set-piece.
And further punishment was to come for the visitors, referee Craig Evans confirming the inevitable when he awarded a penalty try after seven minutes of scrummaging.
But France weren’t to be deterred, piling on the pressure straight from kick-off as they looked to respond immediately.
A quick tap-and-go penalty caught England unawares, with Jordan Joseph plucking the ball from the back of a ruck to squirm through a gap and across the line, reducing arrears to seven.
Still a man down, though, England responded once more from a familiar source.
Another 5m scrum was this time resolved in more timely fashion, a big shunt set the wheels in motion and Tom Willis showed smart footwork to control the ball at the back of the pack before diving on it as it crossed the line.
In what was quickly turning into a classic half of rugby, the French responded once more, breaking from a line-out before Julien Delbouis crashed through a couple of tackles to force his way over.
But in what had become the story of the first-half, the scoreboard didn’t stay that way for long, as England went straight back up the other end, Olly Adkin stretching over to give his side a 24-12 advantage as they headed in for a well-deserved breather at the break.
England extended their lead fifteen minutes into the second-half, this time through expert use of a different set-piece; a well-won line-out forming a powerful driving maul that had France retreating, leaving Evans with no choice but to award the second penalty try of the afternoon.
Joel Kpoku was sent to the sin bin as France were awarded a penalty score of their own in their hunt for a losing bonus point, but ran out of time to notch their fourth as a frantic afternoon of rugby drew to a close.
