England have made three changes to their side for Saturday’s Six Nations Round Two clash at home to France, with Fin Smith, Tom Willis and Ollie Sleightholme coming in to start.
The addition of Northampton fly-half Fin Smith sees Marcus Smith switch to full-back as England head coach Steve Borthwick seeks a dual playmaking axis against Les Bleus.
Saracens back-row Willis is brought in to start at No 8, with Ben Earl shifting to openside and Ben Curry dropping down to the bench. The latter’s twin, Tom Curry, keeps his place at blindside flanker.
The third change sees Sleightholme replace Cadan Murley on the left wing, with last week’s try scorer ruled out due to a foot injury.
There are two further changes to the bench as hooker Jamie George and utility back Elliot Daly return to the squad. Full-back Freddie Steward is dropped entirely.
England: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 George Martin, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Tom Willis.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly.
More to follow…
Jalibert replaces suspended Ntamack as Penaud returns for France
France’s Matthieu Jalibert will start at fly-half against England in place of the suspended Romain Ntamack as head coach Fabien Galthie makes two changes from the team that beat Wales in the opening game.
Jalibert asked to be sent back to his Bordeaux club when he found out he was second in the pecking order at fly-half during last November’s autumn series but Galthie did not hold it against the 26-year-old.
“There is no power struggle with the player. The power struggle is on the field, for us,” Galthie told a press conference.
Matthieu Jalibert (right) will start alongside Antoine Dupont for France at Twickenham
Ntamack picked up a yellow card for a shoulder-to-head tackle on Ben Thomas late in France’s 43-0 drubbing of Wales in their opening Six Nations fixture on Friday, which was upgraded to a red card following a review.
Damian Penaud, who missed the Wales game with a toe injury, will start on the wing in place of 20-year-old Theo Attissogbe.
France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c); 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 3 Uini Atonio, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 6 Francois Cros, 7 Paul Boudehent, 8 Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickel Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Emilien Gailleton.
Six Nations fixtures: Round Two
Saturday February 8
Italy vs Wales (2.15pm)
England vs France (4.45pm)
Sunday February 9
Scotland vs Ireland (3pm)
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