England only fitfully overcame a familiar foe in France in last night’s opening Gillette Four Nations encounter, which will hardly have Australia, their opponents a week today, or New Zealand worrying unduly.

Their second-half performance in Doncaster featured 30 unanswered points and was a considerable improvement on the first period, but England made heavy weather of opponents almost wholly drawn from Catalans Dragons, whose committed teamwork at times outwitted and outmanoeuvred Tony Smith’s leaden team.

England successfully retrieved a 12-4 half-time deficit with some much-needed composure replacing a chicken-headed approach. Gareth Ellis was the main provider of the impetus up front, while Richard Myler chipped in with two tries, although the 19-year-old scrum half ended up badly dazed from a high tackle for which Jean-Philippe Baile was sent off in the penultimate minute.

Kevin Sinfield escaped injury after he was elbowed on the ground by David Ferriol, who was put on report, although France’s disciplinary worries were offset by a spirited display before they ran out of steam. “We’re a long way off where we’d like to be and are going to be, hopefully,” Smith, the England head coach, said.

England had the ball within sight of the French line seven times in the first half and fumbled it or conceded a penalty on all but one occasion. Their opening try was a rare example of fluency as possession was shifted wide for the lurking Lee Smith to cross.

If England expected a romp similar to their 66-12 hammering of a weakened France in June, they were swiftly put straight by conceding two tries in five minutes. Scott Moore was at fault for both and the hooker was withdrawn after a bang to the head. His knock-on prefaced a penalty from which Clint Greenshields dispatched Vincent Duport. Moore then had his pass intercepted by Julien Touxagas and missed the tackle as Kane Bentley scampered beneath the posts.

With Bentley exposing defensive weaknesses with his sharp service from dummy half and Thomas Bosc teasing England with his array of clever kicks, the home side had little idea how to break France’s line before the break.

The spark that lit England’s flame was provided by Myler, who shrugged off James Wynne’s tackle and cut through France’s defence, before taking Sinfield’s popped pass for his second try in six minutes. Sinfield was on Jamie Peacock’s shoulder for another quickly taken score that at least put to rest fears of an upset. Ryan Hall intercepted Bosc’s pass and ran the length of the field for the fifth try and Tom Briscoe added another.

Scorers: England: Tries: Smith, Myler 2, Sinfield, Hall, T Briscoe. Goals: Sinfield 5. France: Tries: Duport, Bentley. Goals: Bosc 2.
England: S Briscoe; T Briscoe, L Smith, M Shenton, R Hall; D McGuire, R Myler; A Morley, S Moore, J Peacock, G Ellis, S Burgess, K Sinfield. Interchange: J Graham, J Roby, B Westwood, K Eastmond.
France: C Greenshields; V Duport, S Raguin, J-P Baile, D Pelo; T Bosc, J Wynne; D Ferriol, K Bentley, R Casty, O Elima, J Touxagas, J Fakir. Interchange: C Villegas, T Sadaoui, S Martins, R Gagliazzo.
Referee: L Williamson (New Zealand).