England 14 France 8 A spirited second-half comeback by England handed the U18s Six Nations Festival squad their first international win of the season at Henley RFC on Saturday.

England, who will contest the Six Nations Festival in Glasgow next month, were left trailing 5-0 at the break after a lack-lustre opening 15 minutes, but Chris Kibble's side came good with a 71st-minute try by super-sub Mike Stanley which stole a 14-8 victory in the dying minutes.

Despite England's tentative start they had had their chances to go ahead early on with a Rob Miller penalty after just four minutes, but the Newcastle Falcons fly-half could not convert.

France, too, had their chances between the sticks, but their kicker, Maxime Lebouris, also missed though the tourists came good moments later claiming the only try of the first half.

That score came courtesy of prop Yvan Watremez who picked up from the back of a driving maul to dive right of his pack after France had taken control in the second stage of the first half.

England, however, kept themselves in contention with some good work by the forwards in the line-out, while Leicester scrum-half Ben Youngs marshalled the pack well.

The home side also came close to scoring when a well executed pass by centre Luke Eves set-up Gloucester's Charlie Sharples on the left wing, only for France centre Julien Jane to tackle the wing to the ground leaving England, who did suffer with some loose play and handling, trailing 5-0 at the break.

England nevertheless clawed their way back into the reckoning after the restart.

A 42nd-minute penalty by Miller earned England's first points of the afternoon, though they were lucky not to drop further behind after France were themselves handed an easy penalty for obstruction. To England's relief, their fly-half missed.

England took the lead for the first-time three minutes later with Miller's second successful penalty, but France regained control when replacement fly-half Pierre Bernard executed a timely drop-goal on 66 minutes after a sustained period of pressure from the French in England's 22.

England, however, rolled on the substitutes including Saracens wing Stanley.

After just four minutes on the pitch, the pacey back made an immediate impression when Leicester hooker Tom Collett, enjoying a superb game, stole possession from a dirty France clearance kick.

Collett showed an impressive turn of speed to break through the mid-field and off-load to Miller who then set-up Stanley on the right wing, who charged through to score on 71 minutes.

Miller missed the conversion, but it did not matter with England taking the lead and then a 14-8 victory.

Kibble said: "I'm very happy with this win, especially considering this is our first international of the season.

"It is great knowing that we will now go to Glasgow with a win under our belts. That will lift our spirits tremendously.

"As an England side, of course we are not happy with the amount of spillage and lack of control in contact, but we learned from those mistakes in the second-half and we will learn even more from them ahead of next month's tournament.

"It was nice to score a good, fluid try at the end of the game as that was something we had been lacking but certainly that fluidity is something that will come with a few more games under our belts.

"Carl Ferns led by example today and Tom Collett certainly had a great game at hooker."

England: 1. Ben Moon (Ivybridge Community College & SWERA), 2. Tom Collett (Wyggeston & QE I College & Leicester Tigers), 3. James Currie (Millfield & Bath Rugby), 4. Graham Kitchener (Adams Grammar School & Worcester Warriors), 5. Dan Williams (Ivybridge Community College & SWERA), 6. Calum Clark (Barnard Castle & Leeds Tykes), 7. Jacob Rowan (Bradford Grammar School & Leeds Tykes), 8. Carl Fearns (c) (Sedbergh & Sale Sharks), 9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers), 10. Rob Miller (Keswick School & Newcastle Falcons), 11. Charlie Sharples (St Peters & Gloucester Rugby), 12. Luke Eves (Colston's Collegiate & Bristol Rugby), 13. Ben Williams (Bryanston School & Bath Rugby), 14. Sebastian Stegmann (Cranleigh School & NEC Harlequins), 15. Greig Tonks (Nottingham High School & Leicester Tigers). Replacements: 16. Alex Brown (Dulwich College & Saracens), 17. James Clark ( London Irish), 18. Joseph Marler (Sussex Downs & NEC Harlequins), 19. Courtney Lawes ( Moulton College & Northampton Saints), 20. Tom Sargeant (Royal Grammar School Guildford & NEC Harlequins), 21. Mike Macfarlane (Royal Grammar School Guildford), 22. David Lewis (Ivybridge Community College & SWERA), 23. Mark Davies (St Peters High School & Gloucester Rugby), 24. Jack Cobden (Wyggeston & QE I College & Leicester Tigers), 25. Mike Stanley (Oaklands College & Saracens), 26. Henry Trinder (Hartpury College & Gloucester Rugby) Tries: Stanley (71) Conversions: Penalties: Miller (3) Substitutions: Trinder for Sharlpes (blood, 10), Trinder for Stegmann (41), Brown for Currie (60), Stanley on for Ben Williams (67).

Half-time score: England 0 France 5 Referee: Leighton Hodges (WRU) Touch judges: Paul Barton, Michael Priestley England U18s Six Nations Festival: Sunday, April 8 (3pm): England v Scotland, Burnbrae.

Wednesday, April 11 (5pm): England v Wales, Hughenden.

Saturday, April 14 (1pm): England v Ireland, Burnbrae.