England are set to face France on Saturday (Image: Icon Sport via Getty Images)
are set to face France at Allianz Stadium in the second round of the on Saturday. ‘s England team are recovering from a defeat by reigning champions Ireland in Dublin.
In contrast, France will be brimming with confidence after their 43-0 victory over Wales in Paris. The match, known as ‘Le Crunch’, is one of the tournament’s most anticipated, with England having won 60 matches and France 44 since their rivalry began in 1906.
Despite England’s historical advantage, Les Bleus are currently considered one of the best Test teams globally and have won their last three encounters with England in this tournament.
Here’s everything you need to know about the England v France match…
England vs France start time and TV channel
The game kicks off at 4.45pm on Saturday at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, London. For UK viewers, the match can be watched live on ITV1, with coverage starting at 4.15pm and ending at 7pm.
The match can also be live-streamed via ITVX, but an ITV account and TV licence are required.
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Steve Borthwick will be hoping to lead England to an impressive victory (Image: Getty)
The teams
England XV: M Smith; Freeman, Lawrence, Slade, Sleightholme; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Stuart, Itoje, Martin, T Curry, Earl, T Willis.
Replacements: George, Baxter, Heyes, Chessum, Cunningham-South, B Curry, Randall, Daly.
France XV: Ramos; Penaud, Barassi, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Jalibert, Dupont; Gros, Mauvaka, Atonio, Roumat, Meafou, Cros, Boudehent, Alldritt.
Replacements: Marchand, Baille, Colombe, Auradou, Guilard, Jegou, Le Garrec, Gailleton.
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What have both coaches said?
England’s Borthwick praised the danger Marcus Smith poses in unstructured play: “Marcus (Smith), in those unstructured situations, he was so dangerous on Saturday – and he is, with time and space. Trying to keep the ball alive, something we’re working on, might give Marcus a bit more time and space.”
Borthwick also highlighted Smith’s defensive prowess: “Fin’s (Smith) distribution is excellent and his kicking game is very accurate. Earlier this season, we had Fin at 30 tackles in a game for Northampton. He’s tough, brave. When other players see a fly-half defending like that, they have immense respect.”
Meanwhile, France’s Fabien Galthie addressed the absence of Matthieu Jalibert from the squad: “There is no power struggle with the player.The power struggle is on the field, for us. When you make decisions you work on a daily basis on the players’ form and the possible pairings. When we saw Ntamack picked up a red card we started to work with the staff right away and Matthieu Jalibert was the obvious choice. He was always eligible.”
Galthie went on to speak about giving players a break: “We felt he needed some air to regenerate. Our proposal was for him to get out of this closed-door environment to regenerate but we stayed in contact with him and his club.”
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