England vs France
Kickoff: 4:45pm Saturday, Paris, ITV 1
Team news
England
1.Genge 2.Cowan-Dickie 3.Stuart 4.Itoje(C) 5.Martin
6.T.Curry 7.Earl 8.Willis 9.Mitchell 10.F.Smith
11.Sleightolme 12.Slade 13.Lawrence 14.Freeman 15.M.Smith
16.George 17.Baxter 18.Heyes 19.Chessum
20.Cunningham-South 21.B.Curry 22.Randall 23.Daly
France
1.Gros 2.Mauvaka 3.Antonio 4.Roumat 5.Meafou
6.Cros 7.Boudehent 8.Alldritt 9.Dupont(C) 10.Jalibert
11.Bielle-Biarrey 12.Moefana 13.Barassi 14.Penaud 15.Ramos
16.Marchand 17.Baille 18.Colombe 19.Auradou
20.Guillard 21.Jegou 22.Le Garrec 23.Gailleton
This is a huge game for England. If Borthwick can't guide this team to a win, he has to then beat Scotland, Italy and Wales in order to keep his job, you'd imagine. He certainly can't afford a repeat of the last time France were visiting when they won 53-10 to embarrass the hosts. In order to turn things around, Borthwick has taken a big risk. He has decided to continue England's tradition of playing the best available fly-half out of position. Marcus Smith will move to fullback, knocking Freddie Steward out of the squad. Fin Smith makes his first international start at fly-half. The other change in the back line is Ollie Sleightholme coming into replace Murley who was injured last week. Elsewhere, Tom Willis starts at number 8 with Ben Earl moving to openside flanker. Ben Curry drops to the bench in his place. England still have a 6-2 split on the bench.
For France, Penaud comes straight back in after recovering from a foot injury despite Attissogbe scoring twice in his absence. The big call for Galthie this week was deciding who to start in place of the suspended Ntamack. When Ntamack was unavailabe in the autumn, Ramos moved from fullback and was excellent in his place. However, it did cause drama. Jalibert was not only not second choice but wasn't even included in the squad. He was behind Ntamack, Ramos and Dupont for the 10 shirt. Galthie asked him to join the team as a travelling reserve which he refused to do. Despite that, his sparkling form in the Top 14 has earned him a chance at fly-half against England.
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