Steve Borthwick pauses press conference to call out referee

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The incident occurred shortly before Bielle-Biarrey’s 66th-minute try, which came after England lost the ball deep inside their own 22.

Borthwick said the TMO had initially indicated a penalty advantage but later changed it to a knock-on advantage without that update being clearly communicated to the players on the field.

Believing they still had a penalty advantage, England attempted to move the ball wide. Ben Earl was then stripped of possession, a risk Borthwick suggested the team would not have taken if they had known the advantage was only for a knock-on.

Reflecting on the situation, Borthwick said, "We've been told on the pitch it's a penalty advantage, and I know some people at home were probably looking at the why we played the way we did and it should be explained that the players on the pitch were told it was a penalty advantage, so played in a certain manner knowing they had a penalty to go back to.

"Unfortunately, what happened in the background was the TMO had changed it to a knock-on advantage, the players were unaware of it and France go down the other end and score a try.

"I think World Rugby needs to have a look at that kind of situation, you can't have players playing with certain knowledge that is then taken away from them."

Another decision that bemused Borthwick was Ellis Genge's yellow card and penalty try right on the stroke of half time.

Genge was penalised for collapsing a maul and sent to the sin-bin, even France seemed to drag down a maul on their own five-metre line earlier on in the match, with no penalty try or yellow card given.

When asked about Genge's yellow, the England boss looked back at the general inconsistency he believes has been shown throughout the tournament against his players.

"I think the decision against Henry Arundell was confusing at best. I thought that one against Ellis, to give a penalty try, I don't follow. I'll ask for it to be explained to me."