Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was sent off on his return from injury as England’s summer tour preparations were dealt a major blow during a 26-24 warm-up defeat to a France XV.

The Exeter wing – appearing for the first time since dislocating a shoulder in December – received a 20-minute red card for a high tackle on Les Bleus fly-half Antoine Hastoy in the first half of the non-capped match at Allianz Stadium.

With 22-year-old Feyi-Waboso facing a suspension, head coach Steve Borthwick is due to name his squad for next month’s tour of Argentina and the United States on Monday.

England were at least on course to depart for South America in victorious fashion but, having led by 12 points going into the final 10 minutes, late converted tries from Paul Mallez and Romain Taofifenua snatched success for Fabien Galthie’s side in front of a crowd of 34,129.

Scores from Tom Willis, Alex Coles, international newcomer Joe Carpenter and replacement Alex Dombrandt initially turned the contest in the hosts’ favour following early efforts from French pair Gaetan Barlot and Hugo Auradou.

With 13 players on Lions duty, hooker Jamie George and fly-half George Ford co-captained an England XV containing uncapped trio Carpenter, Seb Atkinson and Guy Pepper, while there was a long-awaited appearance for Feyi-Waboso.

He was denied a dream start when last-gasp defending caused the ball to squirm loose as he stretched for the try line inside two minutes.

France, who are gearing up for a three-Test series in New Zealand, live on Sky Sports, seized the initiative with quickfire tries.

Hooker Barlot finished a lineout maul to punish a pair of infringements from England lock Coles, before full-back Theo Attissogbe broke through Atkinson’s attempted tackle to unselfishly tee up lock Auradou after Carpenter lost possession at the breakdown.

On a sweltering afternoon in south-west London, England hit back to draw level at 12-12.

No 8 Willis touched down after persistent French indiscipline initially thwarted sustained home pressure before Coles then bundled over wide on the right following a lineout four minutes later.

The major talking point arrived six minutes shy of half-time.

In desperation to retrieve the ball while chasing his own kick, Feyi-Waboso flung a high arm into the head of France No 10 Hastoy. Referee Hollie Davidson initially showed a yellow card before the sanction was swiftly upgraded to a red on review.

With Borthwick still contemplating the ramifications of the incident, his side edged ahead in the final minute of the half when Sale full-back Carpenter benefited from Atkinson’s superb carry to cross.

Ford, who slotted two of his four conversion attempts across the contest, shanked a penalty early in the second period before Carpenter was denied a second score the game due to Henry Slade’s knock on.

France scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec saw a breakaway try disallowed because of an illegal clearout on George in the build-up which resulted in a yellow card for France replacement Cameron Woki, which was subsequently changed to red.

England quickly capitalised on their numerical advantage as Dombrandt darted for the right corner.

France moved to within one score thanks to a late converted try from Mallez – one of nine uncapped players in their matchday squad.

Borthwick’s men looked to have done enough to hold on for a slender success but the likely loss of Feyi-Waboso was compounded when Hastoy slotted the winning conversion with the final kick after Taofifenua bulldozed over.

British & Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.