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Fabien Galthie was happy enough with last week and so has named the same 23.
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England are forced into one change, with breakout winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injured and replaced by Elliot Daly. Manu Tuilagi returns to a place on the bench.
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FRANCE Léo Barré; Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Nicolas Depoortère, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Thomas Ramos, Nolann Le Garrec; Cyril Baille, Julian Marchand, Uini Atonio, Thibaud Flament, Emmanuel Meafou, François Cros, Charles Ollivon, Gregory Alldritt.
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Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Sébastien Taofifénua, Georges-Henri Colombe, Romain Taofifénua, Alexandre Roumat, Paul Boudehent, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana
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ENGLAND George Furbank; Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, San Cole, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
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Replacements:Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Ethan Roots, Alex Dombrandt, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Manu Tuilagi
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“If you’re so clever then why are you not rich?” is a question many will be asking England after the explosion of positivity following the victory of Ireland at Twickenham. There’s certainly no better way to show your bling than a result in France, moreso when it takes the W column to 4 in a year when not a great deal was expected of Steve Borthwick’s team.
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Alloyed to the result last time out, the nature of the play in the last two matches is what has Borthwick and England fans more upbeat than at any time in the previous few years. But the Red Rose has had more false blooms than Alexander Fleming’s petri dish in the past two decades; today will see if this particular experiment is worth further development.
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Speaking of experiments, France appear to have decided that the best way to deal with the loss of their two key fulcrums in Dupont and Ntamack is to keep chucking new backs into tombola to see what flies out. It worked to a point last week v Wales, mainly due to the forwards in the squad having roughly 1.45m newtons more force than the opposition. They are unlikely to have as much of a pushover ride against a re-energised England pack today, but they will still fancy the new and increasingly rapid backline to cause the still maturing defensive system of the visitors some problems.
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important events
5 minutes. France had already earned a turnover from England and scrummed from halfway to win the ball. A clean heel, but this time the white blitz did its job, forcing the French midfield into a handling error.
This is a quick start for the home team. If England can get through this without getting hurt too much, they’ll soon be able to get some possession to test the opposition defense (hopefully!)
2 minutes England recycled the restart and pushed it back to France, who decided this was the night they could go wide early on and had already decided to have Fickou play the ball through his legs as an option. This move allows Deportaire to run up the left touchline and out of England’s blitz before England scramble and send him off.
kick off!
On the second try (don’t ask), Thomas Ramos punted the ball deep to get us going.
As kick-off approaches, La Marseillaise excitement is sure to increase in Lyon.
Well, it was a wonderful racket.
A laser light show dances across the grass and the stadium is plunged into darkness as spectators wait for their teams to arrive. It won’t be long as the team is currently in the tunnel.
Email from Brendan Large
“As an England fan, the result is not that important (if we can avoid a shellacking like last year) but we need to show intent like we have in the last few games.In my opinion England have been better in the last two games. I think they were excellent. In Scotland they dropped more balls than they caught and Van der Merwe seemed to catch every ball dropped, but in Ireland he got caught and ran ragged. . This top-level French team could still break through another positive expression, but the positive expression will be even more than we expected a few weeks ago.
Give us a great ending to the tournament. A great game, not even half the great game the U2o team put on last night.If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you to take a look
pre-game reading
The championship was won by Ireland, but what would you like to see from this match? Email or post all your thoughts and predictions @Bloodandmud
team
Fabien Galthie was happy with what he saw last week, so he named the same 23 players.
England were forced to make one change, with breakout winger Immanuel Fay-Waboso injured and replaced by Elliot Daly. Manu Tuilagi returns to the bench.
France Leo Barre. Damien Penaud, Gaël Ficou, Nicolas Deportaire, Louis Viel Bialley. Thomas Ramos, Nolan Le Garrec. Cyril Bayle, Julien Marchand, Wini Atonio, Thibault Flamint, Emmanuel Mefou, François Clos, Charles Ollivon, Grégory Aldritt.
Replacement: Pete Mauvaca, Sebastien Taofifenua, Georges-Henri Colombe, Romain Taofifenua, Alexandre Luma, Paul Boudéin, Maxime Luk, Yoram Moefana
England George Furbank. Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Olly Lawrence, Elliot Daly. George Ford, Alex Mitchell. Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Sun Cole, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Ollie Chetham, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacement:Theo Dunn, Joe Marler, Will Stewart, Ethan Roots, Alex Dombrandt, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Manu Tuilagi
preamble
“If you’re so smart, why can’t you be rich?” is the question many will be asking England after the burst of positivity from Ireland’s win at Twickenham. Indeed, there is no better way to show off your brilliance than with your performance in France. Especially when they achieved four W columns in a year at a time when not much was expected of Steve Borthwick’s side.
Following the previous result, the nature of the play in the last two games has left Borthwick and England fans more optimistic than at any time in recent years. But red roses have produced more false flowers than Alexander Fleming’s petri dish over the past 20 years. Today let’s see if this particular experiment is worth developing further.
Speaking of experiments, France seems to have decided that the best way to deal with the loss of two important anchors in Dupont and Ntamak is to keep throwing new bags into Tombola and see what pops out. Last week’s match against Wales went somewhat well, mainly because the team’s forwards had about 1.45 million newtons more power than their opponents. Today, they are unlikely to have as many pushover rides against a lively England pack again, but they still have a new and increasingly rapid backline, but are still maturing. hoping to cause some problems for the visiting team’s defensive system.
