England rallied in Paris, but were unable to spark a dramatic comeback against France, slumping to a 24-17 defeat as they lost their opening Six Nations game.
A torrid first half for Eddie Jones men, coupled with a sensational start by France under Shaun Edwards, helped the hosts blitz into a 17-point lead.
France stood up to the test of England and their brute physicality in Paris
Three months after their World Cup final defeat to South Africa in Japan, England looked hapless and lost for the first hour, but individual brilliance from Jonny May got them back into the game.
May’s brilliance provided temporary inspiration but England lacked the firepower to make further inroads into the deficit in an improved final quarter they controlled and that finished with Owen Farrell landing a penalty to claim the bonus point.
A rain-swept Stade de France noisily greeted the new era launched by their head coach Fabien Galthie and the influence of his assistant Shaun Edwards was stamped all over the defensive heroics.
England, meanwhile, will lick their wounds as they come to terms with the possibility their World Cup final rout by South Africa last autumn may have left deeper scars than initially expected.
Eddie Jones watched on helplessly in Paris
For the first time since 1988 they were held scoreless at the interval in a Championship match and it is hard to imagine a worse start as they were breached in the sixth minute by Vincent Rattez.
Once an initial attack had collapsed through Kyle Sinckler’s knock-on, Teddy Thomas stormed into the 22 after skilfully evading Sam Underhill and Rattez took advantage of a weak tackle by Ben Youngs to slip over.
England’s scrum ascendancy offered a foothold in the game but otherwise they were being beaten at every turn in an alarming opening quarter that deteriorated further when Romain Ntamack added a penalty to his conversion.
Manu Tuilagi left the field in the 16th minute, although there was no obvious sign of injury, and soon after France went over for a controversial second try through Ollivon.
Tuilagi was hit by two French defenders and forced to leave the field
Ollivon challenged for a kick and it was unclear whether its struck him or Courtney Lawes before falling to Rattez who sped forward before supplying his openside with the scoring pass.
England disputed the try, saying the ball had hit Ollivon’s arm, but referee Nigel Owens disagreed and they only had themselves to blame as they stopped playing in anticipation of the decision that went ultimately went against them.
Underhill was smashed backwards in the tackle, George Furbank’s shaky debut continued with another knock-on, Sinckler split forward and then Farrell snatched clumsily at a pass as errors compounded at a ferocious rate.
It was making attack an impossibility and the cascade of mistakes continued as Youngs ended a promising spell by being penalised for holding on before a needless free-kick was conceded at a line-out.
Owen Farrell tried, but failed to get his side back into the game
Conversely, Charles Ollivon led by example for Les Bleus
Jones questioned at the start of the week how France’s young team would cope with the pressure, but it was his players who looked powerless as events unfolded around them.
The second half started with a sustained onslaught on the French line that almost saw Maro Itoje go over but the defence held firm.
Pressure continued to build on the home whitewash, however, with Jonathan Joseph almost slipping over only to be stripped of the ball by Virimi Vakatawa.
With the immediate danger averted, France rallied superbly and when Antoine Dupont raced free on the outside to evade Youngs, Ollivon arrived in support to score their third try.
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Owens spoke to both captains after a large fight broke out in the wake of the touch down and England were finally off the mark when May beat Thomas to his own grubber.
Better yet was to come from May as he switched on the afterburners to leave a trail of French defenders in his wake for his second, setting up a nervy climax to the afternoon.
George Kruis almost forced his way over under the posts and England continued their assault on the line, but apart from a stoppage-time penalty by Farrell that secured the bonus point, France kept them out.