Preview: France v England
Preview, stats and facts ahead of England's clash with France in Paris on Saturday.
Eddie Jones’ men arrive in Paris looking to accomplish the difficult task of ending France's Grand Slam dreams. Les Bleus could claim their first Slam in twelve years should they win, but Jones is expecting England to finish the championship strongly.
| Date | Saturday 19 March |
| Venue | Stade de France |
| Coverage | ITV & BBC Radio 5 Live |
| Kick off | 8pm |
"We have a wonderful opportunity to play at Stade de France, which is one of the most iconic sporting stadiums in the world, in front of 82,000 fans full of life and expectation," he said.
"France have had a great Six Nations but we want to finish strong, so it's about creating our own party rather than spoiling theirs."
Teams
There is a return for Sam Underhill at openside flanker, who last featured for England in a win over South Africa in November 2021.
England
15. George Furbank, 14. Freddie Steward, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Henry Slade, 11. Jack Nowell, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Ben Youngs, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Nick Isiekwe, 6. Courtney Lawes, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Sam Simmonds.
Finishers
16. Nic Dolly, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Kyle Sinckler, 19. Ollie Chessum, 20. Alex Dombrandt, 21. Harry Randall, 22. George Ford, 23. Elliot Daly.
France
Here is how the hosts line up...
Stats & facts
England’s Maro Itoje has made five breakdown steals in the Guinness Six Nations in 2022, more than any other player; his teammate Alex Dombrandt is joint-second (4).
France’s Antoine Dupont (158) and England’s Marcus Smith (154) have made more metres over the gain line than any other half back in the Guinness Six Nations this year.
Smith has scored a try in each of his two away games with England, both during this year’s Guinness Six Nations (v Scotland and Italy) while Dupont registered a try and an assist in his last home game for Les Bleus (v Ireland).
Just one of the last nine Guinness Six Nations fixtures between France and England has been won by the away side on the day, a 31-21 victory for England in Paris in 2016, Les Bleus have won their two home games against England since then.
They are going to be a massively aroused team, they come through the centre with their big forwards and once they tie you up a little bit they spread the ball to their backs, but they don't do that without using their long kicking game to get them up the field.
France haven’t trailed at halftime in a home Test match since February 2018 (v Ireland), going into the break ahead on 19 occasions and level twice in their 21 matches since that fixture.
Views from camp
Jamie George: "We don’t want to give them set-piece ball because they can be dangerous off the back of that. It’s got to be something we disrupt but we’ve got a good plan in place. We’ve got great athletes in this team; when you’ve got the likes of Maro in your midst, he’s always going to come up with a good plan to go after it."
Eddie Jones:
Will Stuart: "We need to tactically outsmart France and get their pack running around, because we back ourselves to be fitter. It is an exciting game."
Previous encounters
2021 | England 23 - 20 France
2020 | England 22 - 19 France
2020 | France 24 - 17 England
2019 | England 44 - 8 France
2018 | France 22 - 16 England
Related topics
- Attack
- T - Tries
- M - Metres carried
- C - Carries
- DB - Defenders beaten
- CB - Clean breaks
- P - Passes
- O - Offloads
- TC - Turnovers conceded
- TA - Try assists
- PTS - Points
- Defence
- Tackles - Tackles
- MT - Missed tackles
- TW - Turnovers won
- Kicking
- K - Kicks in play
- C - Conversions
- PG - Penalty goals
- DG - Drop goals
- Set plays
- TW - Throws won
- LW - Lineouts won
- LS - Lineout steals
- Discipline
- PC - Penalties conceded
- RC - Red cards
- YC - Yellow cards
England beaten by France in Paris
England were beaten 25-13 in Paris, as Les Bleus claimed a first Grand Slam in 12 years.
England started brightly, as Marcus Smith and Henry Slade put France under pressure with probing kicks into their territory, and the returning Sam Underhill made his presence felt in defence.
The hosts bagged the first points of the Test through full back Melvyn Jaminet, who slotted a penalty in the eighth minute after a collapsed English scrum, and eight minutes later Gaël Fickou crossed for a try, making it 8-0.
Smith landed a penalty to get England on the scoreboard, before Jaminet restored Les Bleus' eight point lead with one of his own on the 23-minute mark.
As half time approached, Ellis Genge caused France problems with abrasive carrying that punctured holes in their defensive line - the prop making 78 metres in the opening half.
Smith bagged another penalty before flanker François Cros scored Les Bleus' second try on the stroke of half time - Jaminet's extras making it 18-6 at the break.
Steward scored England's first try eight minutes into the second half. It came off the back of a Joe Marchant break - the centre brought down 10 metres from the whitewash.
The ball was recycled quickly and spread through the hands to Steward on the wing, who cut back inside before powering over. Smith's extras cut the deficit to five points.
But just as the visitors were growing in confidence, scrum half Antoine Dupont clinched Frances' third try, wrestling back momentum on the hour mark.
England remained competitive as the Test neared its end, as replacements Harry Randall, Alex Dombrandt, Ollie Chessum and Joe Marler made notable contributions.
Smith brought England's attack to life, and Steward was inches away from latching onto one of his grubber kicks and a second try, but the spirited attack was thwarted by staunch French defence, and Les Bleus held on to record a 25-13 win.
Teams
England
15. George Furbank, 14. Freddie Steward, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Henry Slade, 11. Jack Nowell, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Ben Youngs, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Nick Isiekwe, 6. Courtney Lawes (c), 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Sam Simmonds.
Finishers
16. Nic Dolly, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Kyle Sinckler, 19. Ollie Chessum, 20. Alex Dombrandt, 21. Harry Randall, 22. George Ford, 23. Elliot Daly.
France
15. Melvyn Jaminet, 14. Damian Penaud, 13. Gaël Fickou, 12. Jonathan Danty, 11. Gabin Villière, 10. Romain Ntamack. 9. Antoine Dupont (c), 1. Cyril Baille, 2. Julien Marchand, 3. Uini Atonio, 4. Cameron Woki, 5. Paul Willemse, 6. François Cros, 7. Anthony Jelonch, 8. Grégory Alldritt.
Replacements
16. Peato Mauvaka, 17. Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18. Mohamed Haouas, 19. Romain Taofifenua, 20. Thibaud Flament, 21. Dylan Cretin, 22. Maxime Lucu, 23. Thomas Ramos.
