England will look to get their Six Nations championship defence back on track on Saturday evening as they take on France in the latest instalment of “Le Crunch”, looking to make up for their shock defeat by Scotland last time out.
That 25-13 defeat in Edinburgh has put Ireland in pole position for the title, having won all three of their games so far, but with England and Ireland due to meet on the final weekend of the tournament, Eddie Jones’ side at least know that their fate remains in their own hands if they can beat France.
They will have to do so without captain Dylan Hartley though, with the hooker ruled out with a calf injury, meaning that Jamie George is handed his first Six Nations start and Exeter’s Luke Cowan-Dickie is named on the bench. While it is the only change in the pack, England’s back line looks very different as outside stand-in captain Owen Farrell is Ben Te’o, fit-again Elliot Daly and Jonny May, with Anthony Watson moving to full-back and Mike Brown dropped.
France meanwhile make just one change to the side that beat Italy a fortnight ago, with Toulon fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc recalled in place of Lionel Beauxis as Jacques Brunel’s third starting No 10 in four matches
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What time does it start?
France vs England kicks off at the Stade de France at 16:45 GMT (17:45 CET).
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on BBC One from 16:00 GMT.
Teams
France: Hugo Bonneval; Benjamin Fall, Mathieu Bastareaud, Geoffrey Doumayrou, Remy Grosso; Francois Trinh-Duc, Maxime Machenaud; Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado, Rabah Slimani; Paul Gabrillagues, Sebastien Vahaamahina; Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara, Marco Tauleigne.
Replacements: Adrien Pelissie, Dany Priso, Cedate Gomes Sa, Romain Taofifenua, Kelian Galletier, Baptiste Couilloud, Lionel Beauxis, Gael Fickou.
England: Anthony Watson; Jonny May, Ben Te’o, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Danny Care; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Dan Cole; Joe Launchbury, Maro Itoje; Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Nathan Hughes.
