Parling the only change for England

Editor

Leicester lock Geoff Parling replaces Dave Attwood in the only change to England's starting line-up for their final Six Nations encounter against France.

Meanwhile, Parling's Welford Road colleague Dan Cole will win his 50th England cap in the competition climax at Twickenham as the hosts look to secure their first Championship title since 2011.

Tighthead prop Cole made his international debut in a 30-17 victory over Wales in 2010 and reaches this milestone at the age of 27.

Elsewhere, Harlequin Nick Easter –  another half-centurion having reached 50 Test appearances in Dublin at the start of this month – comes onto the replacements bench.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster said: “It’s a great achievement for Dan to win his 50th cap, especially coming back from his injury last year. He is one of the cornerstones of our squad and we all wish him all the best.

“Geoff did well off the bench against Scotland and now that he has got some games under his belt we feel it is the right time to start him and use his experience and quality in the starting line-up.

“The same goes for Nick Easter, who has really impressed in camp and with his appearances off the bench in the second row. He is a quality ball carrier and great defender – something we feel we will need in the latter stages of the game.

“Finishing off the tournament at home is going to be a great occasion.

“The support against Scotland last week was fantastic and this week we really need the crowd to get behind the team and drive them forward this weekend in what will be an exciting finale to this year's Championship.”

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 James Haskell, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Geoff Parling, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieron Brookes, 19 Nick Easter, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees

Date: Saturday, March 21
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 17:00 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Johnny Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)