England host France at Allianz Stadium on Saturday with the aim of reigniting their Guinness Six Nations title bid after falling short against Ireland in round one.
Here, the PA news agency examines five talking points heading into ‘Le Crunch’.
Borthwick rolls the dice
If Steve Borthwick is feeling the pressure after a run of seven successive losses against top-tier opposition, he is not showing it in his team selection. A week after boldly fielding a back row containing three opensides including the Curry twins, he has picked young playmakers Marcus Smith and Fin Smith together for the first time. It is hard to fault Borthwick’s judgement in either case and if England are eliminated from the title race just two rounds into the Six Nations, it will not be because of a lack of adventure from their head coach.
Unleash the Smiths
While full debutant Fin Smith has the responsibility of launching England’s backline amid the belief his skill set at fly-half will allow those around him to shine, his namesake has been given the task of setting France’s defence ablaze from full-back. Borthwick views Marcus Smith as a “game-changer”, who has the ability to “find gaps in defences that most people don’t know are there”. What is being sacrificed in aerial dominance in the backfield, Borthwick hopes will be compensated for by a unique counter-attacking threat that will be given a platform by France’s long kicking game. The experiment of playing Marcus Smith at full-back has previously delivered in flashes, including against the same opposition last year, but this will be its greatest test yet.
France’s to lose
France are strong favourites to storm Twickenham and continue their march to a title showdown with Ireland in Dublin on March 8. It is hard to look beyond an away win after Les Bleus crushed Wales in round one, the night before England faded out of contention at the Aviva Stadium. A year ago only a late penalty denied Borthwick’s men in Lyon, yet the scars of 2023 when France inflicted a record 53-10 defeat at Twickenham still remain. England have avoided mention of one of the darkest days in their rugby history at all costs, but it casts a shadow over Saturday even if many of the protagonists have changed.
Borthwick summons the cavalry
If England are to register an upset, they need more from their bench. In four of their seven consecutive defeats to Six Nations and Rugby Championship opponents, they have failed to score a point in the final quarter, a damning statistic that reveals how ineffective their replacements have been. Action has been taken by picking Jamie George and Elliot Daly as reinforcements against France in the hope their combined 166 Test appearances can help England over the line. A week earlier in Dublin, the bench contained a combined total of only 81 caps and the superiority of Ireland in this area was decisive – a fact not lost on Borthwick.
Must stop Dupont
England hope to limit Antoine Dupont’s influence on the game by taking away his time and space, aware that France’s scrum-half genius is deadly off quick ball. By their own admission that is easier said than done against a player nicknamed ‘The Martian’ by his team-mates because, in the words of lock Emmanuel Meafou, “he is not from earth”. Potentially the greatest of all time, Dupont is as complete a player as the game has seen, with his creative masterclass against Wales in round one showing he is operating at the peak of his powers.
