Preview: England v France
Everything you need to know ahead of England Men's round four Guinness Six Nations meet with France at Twickenham.
Head coach Steve Borthwick will be looking to make it three straight victories when his side welcome Les Bleus to the home of England Rugby on Saturday.
England have won two of their three games so far in this year's Championship. A 31-14 victory over Italy in round two and a 10-20 away win against Wales at the Principality stadium in round three.
| When? | Saturday 11 March |
| Where? | Twickenham Stadium |
| Kick off? | 16:45 |
Ellis Genge has been named captain for the first time, and lines up alongside Jamie George and Kyle Sinckler in the front row. Ollie Chessum and Maro Itoje are the lock pairing, while Lewis Ludlam, Jack Willis and Alex Dombrandt once again make up the back row.
In the backs, Marcus Smith has been drafted in to the starting lineup at fly half, and will form a halfback pairing with Leicester Tigers' Jack van Poortvliet. Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade will be looking to inject pace and power from the centres, while Anthony Watson, Max Malins and Freddie Steward form a formidable back three.
David Ribbans could make his Six Nations debut from the bench as he returns to the match day 23. Jack Walker, Mako Vunipola, Dan Dole, Ben Curry, Alex Mitchell, Owen Farrell and Henry Arundell are also named as replacements.
VIEWS FROM CAMP
Steve Borthwick: "France are an incredible side, they've been building year on year. They've built their game off the back of a strong kicking game. They've also got a huge forward pack who will be, in contact, incredibly powerful and then off the back of that they've got a brilliant scrum half and outside backs, with a back three that bring pace to the game.
"Those challenges are immense and from our point of view there are tactical battles within that. What we do is focus on ourself and how we need to play against this team. We know they always bring an incredible physical challenge, but we've been working hard to make sure we're prepared.
"It's a great challenge for us and we can't wait. We want to keep progressing and we want to put a foundation in place from which we can build. Each week we try to progress that and I feel we've progressed this week. Now, we're just looking forward to getting out on the pitch this week. We know it's a formidable challenge for us, but we can't wait for Saturday."
Lewis Ludlam: "I feel that we've been building really nicely over the last few games. We've had to take on lessons quickly. France pose a brilliant challenge, they're a fantastic team on both sides of the ball so we have to be on our money, but these are the reasons you play rugby: to challenge yourself against the best. As a back rower against one of the biggest packs in the world it's a chance to earn respect by putting your body on the line.
"We want to put on our best performance and play well, especially at Twickenham. We want to excite the fans by winning games and going up against one of the best teams in the world just makes it that little bit more exciting. It's an exciting challenge and we're looking forward to it.
"[Ellis Genge] is brilliant. He's someone who plays with his heart on his sleeve, when he talks people listen and get behind him, he's someone you want to battle and fight for. I remember playing against him when we were 14 years old, so I know he's also someone you don't want to play against. He always puts his body on the line and he's a good mate of mine, so to follow him this week is something I'm really looking forward to."
TEAMS
England
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Max Malins, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Anthony Watson, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Ellis Genge (C), 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Lewis Ludlam, 7. Jack Willis, 8. Alex Dombrandt.
Replacements
16. Jack Walker, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Dan Cole, 19. David Ribbans, 20. Ben Curry, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Owen Farrell, 23. Henry Arundell.
France
15. Thomas Ramos, 14. Damien Penaud, 13. Gael Fickou, 12. Jonathan Danty, 11. Ethan Dumortier, 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Antoine Dupont (C), 1. Cyril Baille, 2. Julien MArchand, 3. Dorian Aldegheri, 4. Thibaud Flament, 5. Paul Willemse, 6. Francois Cros, 7. Charles Ollivon, 8. Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements
16. Peato Mauvaka, 17. Reda Wardi, 18. Sipili Falatea, 19. Romain Taofifenua, 20. Sekou Macalou, 21. Maxine Lucu, 22. Yoram Moefana, 23. Melvyn Jaminet.
STATS
France haven’t won at Twickenham in the Six Nations Championship since 2005.
France have won seven of their eight matches in the Guinness Six Nations since the start of last year’s Championship.
England have the highest 22 exit success rate of any side in this year’s Guinness Six Nations (96%), while France are the only other nation with a 22 exit success rate of over 90% in the Championship (91%).
England’s Kyle Sinckler has committed two or more tacklers from 84% of his carries in the Guinness SixNations this year, the best rate of any player to carry the ball at least 10 times; meanwhile, his front row partner Ellis Genge has averaged the most carries over the gain line of any player to feature for 80+ minutes in 2023 (9.5).
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
2022: France 25-13 England, Paris
2021: England 23-20 France, Twickenham
2020: England 22-19 France, Twickenham
2020: France 24-17 England, Paris
2019: England 44-8 France, Twickenham
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 Six Nations
England were beaten 10-53 by France in the fourth round of the Guinness Six Nations at Twickenham Stadium.
A Freddie Steward try and five points from the boot of Marcus Smith was no match for a ferocious French outfit, who won for the first time at Twickenham in 16 years, thanks to 23 points from Thomas Ramos, and tries from Thibaud Flament (2), Charles Ollivon (2) and Damian Penaud (2).
A neat offload from Ollivon inside the French 22 was the catalyst behind the opening score just two minutes into the Test, as it saw second row Flament break away before passing to the onrushing Ethan Dumortier, who put Ramos away in the corner. The full back converted his own effort for a 0-7 lead, and had further success from the tee five minutes later, nudging a penalty over.
Les Bleus had their second try on the 25-minute mark, as Flament powered over from close range following a succession of positive forward carries orchestrated by Antoine Dupont. Ramos added the extras to make it 0-17.
Marcus Smith bagged England's first points after 33 minutes, curling a penalty over the posts, but Ramos answered immediately with his second effort, before Ollivon crossed for the visitor's third try on the stroke of half time. Fabien Galthié's men took a comprehensive 24-point lead into the break.
Steve Borthwick's men started the second half brightly, as replacements Owen Farrell and Alex Mitchell injected immediate pace into attack, and worked England up the field. Ten metres out, Steward took a short line off replacement Mitchell, bounced opposite man Ramos off a tackle, and surged over for a try. Smith Added the extras, cutting the deficit to 17-points.
But England's promise was short-lived, as Flament scored his second on the hour mark - profiting from the favourable bounce of a Dupont box-kick that was tapped into his hands by fly half Romain Ntamack. Flanker Ollivon bagged his second minutes later - both were converted by Ramos for a 10-41 lead.
In what was a scrappy final 10 minutes, outside centre Gael Fickou saw a mismatch wide, and executed a pinpoint cross-field kick into the path of Penaud - who collected the ball before cantering in unopposed. Ramos claimed his 23rd point with the successful conversion, and another Penaud try in the 75th minute sealed a famous French win.
Teams
England
Starting
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Max Malins, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Anthony Watson, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Ellis Genge (C), 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Lewis Ludlam, 7. Jack Willis, 8. Alex Dombrandt.
Replacements
16. Jack Walker, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Dan Cole, 19. David Ribbans, 20. Ben Curry, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Owen Farrell, 23. Henry Arundell.
France
Starting
15. Thomas Ramos, 14. Damien Penaud, 13. Gael Fickou, 12. Jonathan Danty, 11. Ethan Dumortier, 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Antoine Dupont (C), 1. Cyril Baille, 2. Julien MArchand, 3. Dorian Aldegheri, 4. Thibaud Flament, 5. Paul Willemse, 6. Francois Cros, 7. Charles Ollivon, 8. Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements
16. Peato Mauvaka, 17. Reda Wardi, 18. Sipili Falatea, 19. Romain Taofifenua, 20. Sekou Macalou, 21. Maxine Lucu, 22. Yoram Moefana, 23. Melvyn Jaminet.
Fixtures & Results
England 23 - 29 Scotland
England 10 - 53 France
18 Mar - Ireland v England - Dublin
