Chris Robshaw blamed 'shocking' England discipline after defeat by France in Rugby World Cup warm-up

England captain Chris Robshaw accused his side of losing their discipline after suffering a 25-20 defeat to France in Paris. Despite Stuart Lancaster fielding a first choice XV, his side crumbled in the first half in their penultimate warm-up game ahead of the World Cup.

The scoreline flattered England, who trailed 25-6 with 10 minutes of the contest remaining before tries from Danny Cipriani and Jonathan Joseph added some gloss to a woeful showing in the French capital. Lancaster's side were largely architects of their own downfall, inviting French dominance with a series of dropped passes, failed lineouts and penalties conceded in their own half, leaving captain Robshaw much to mull over ahead of the start of the World Cup campaign against Fiji on 18 September.

"We gave away penalties and our discipline was shocking," said Robshaw."Whether it was rust, or nerves, it wasn't good enough. Credit to France, they put us under pressure and made us make mistakes.

"We gave too many penalties away, but in the second half we came out and played well but couldn't quite get over the line in the end," he told Sky Sports. "We can't give teams like France and other quality sides head starts like we did.

"We'll look long and hard at ourselves, because we let ourselves down in the first half. We played well in phases, but you can't wait for 40 minutes to do that."

England will take on Ireland in their final warm-up game at Twickenham on 5 September. The competition begins on 18 September, when England faces Fiji at Twickenham.