France 8-40 England: Lessons to be learned ahead of Samoa Tests, says Andy Last

England will be “much better” in the autumn Tests against Samoa for the lessons learned during Saturday’s 40-8 win over France, says assistant coach Andy Last.

An inconsistent build-up to their mid-season Test was reflected in a shaky opening 20 minutes, during which England fell behind 8-0 before recovering to score eight unanswered tries.

Head coach Shaun Wane was unable to travel to Toulouse for the game, needing time to recover from ankle surgery.

Last, who is also Catalans Dragons assistant coach, was then delayed arriving from France to join a training session at Wigan on Wednesday due to flight problems.

Wane has been in communication with England’s coaching staff to air his frustrations with the start of the game, with Last admitting there was room for improvement despite the win.

“Shaun texted our analyst at half-time and gave some pointers on some of the things we needed to do a bit better,” Last told BBC Sport.

“He wasn’t happy obviously with our contact in defense in the first half. We were a bit loose in certain aspects. The message was sent to the players at half-time.

“I thought there were periods when we looked really, really strong and periods where we were a bit let down and not quite at the level we need to be for England.

“There are lessons to be learned. We’ll have a look at it on video and we’ll definitely do a lot better at the end of the season against Samoa.”