Starter: Manu Tuilagi
England coach Stuart Lancaster has made three changes to play France, with Manu Tuilagi, Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes returning.
Tuilagi is reunited with Brad Barritt in the centres with Billy Twelvetrees dropping to the bench. Hartley replaced Tom Youngs at hooker, whilst Lawes swaps in for James Haskell who is on the bench.
"We thought long and hard about changing a winning team which did so well against Ireland," said Lancaster.
"But we believe that Dylan, Courtney and Manu are ready for the opportunity and allow us to vary our play, while the bench will add impact and energy as the game unfolds in the second half.
"The players are really looking forward to getting back to Twickenham; the atmosphere in the stadium is fantastic and hopefully the crowd can get behind us in what is sure to be a great challenge against a motivated and physical French team."
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Thomas Waldrom, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.
Kick-off: 17:00
Venue: Twickenham
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Comments
jestnation says...
I'll be honest I did not predict Lawes for Haskell. Bit of a wildcard selection that could go either way for me. Hopefully he'll have his head in the game and be at his rampaging destructive best.
He gives us more options in the line out and is a like for like replacement in the most likely to get yellow carded for doing something stupid stakes, but has serious competition from DH on that front!
The scrum is going to be key and france have picked what's probably their most effective scrum unit with Keyser in for his superior work in the tight. Mas is brilliant at isolating the loose head so Marler and DH will have to work really hard in the scrums.
Twelvetrees really unlucky but I understand the thought in bulking up the midfield.
Posted 11:45 21st February 2013
ironmanI441 says...
Hmm. Mixed bag with these changes really. Hartley brings much more dependability in the line out as Tom Youngs had some really odd mistakes (misthrows, bad timing, etc) in the last match, however Hartley is an absolute liability for discipline and I would say Tom Youngs has the advantage of being a better ball carrier. Would like to see Youngs be the starter continually up to the WC but Hartley does need game time at the test level to keep up to speed also and Tom Youngs is great for an impact sub.
As far as Lawes at 6, I have really high hopes. I think England has a great 4/5 combo in Launchbury and Parling, and Lawes can always slot back into the SR, but the guy is a beast physically, loves the big crunching hits and his work rate is great and athletic with the ball in hand. Ideal 6 actually and with every game at 6 his ball snaffling abilities get better. Haskell is a good cover player for the back row but I just don't ever see him as a stand out player for England. Lawes should get the 6 position until Woods moves back to 6. Then he should battle it out with Launchbury for the spot next to Parling and if we have an injury at 6 he has the test level experience there. Good move Lancaster, although Northampton already have worked with Lawes at 6.
I am torn in the centres. I agree that Barritt is underrated and he is an asbolute wall in defence, and doesn't really hit me as a super sub. So it is likely a starting position or he comes on to seal a win with his defence. However I think that the WC winning team wouldn't include Barritt as a starter, as that second playmaker at 12 is a huge asset and 12Trees just looks the business at test level and his defence is nearly as good as Barritt's. Tuilagi I think has to start when completely fit and firing as he is going to be world class and provides the weight behind the cutting edge. These are all good problems to have.
Posted 11:25 21st February 2013
fozza says...
Lawes at blind side? Well this will be interesting. Could he do the kind of Job Lydiate does for Wales? Scything, heavy hits to bring players down quickly?
Already excited for this game, this adds another dimension... hope it goes well!
Posted 11:18 21st February 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
Haha! the French really don't like Manu. I was surrounded by french supporters during the RWC QF and they were giving brilliant banter as france destroyed England, up until Manu got the ball, then you could see the terror in their eyes! He almost saved our unworthy bacon that night with his break and what he did in Paris last year was just class. I really hope we see Twelvetrees and manu together. Defensive nightmare for the French!
Posted 11:05 21st February 2013