Preview: France v England

Alors, les enfants de la patrie, est-ce-que l'heure de gloire est finalement arrivée ? Can England stop France from sealing the Grand Slam?

Alors, les enfants de la patrie, est-ce-que l'heure de gloire est finalement arrivée ? The Grand Slam beckons for France on Saturday. Can England stop them?
After two years of building, Marc Lièvremont's team finally look ready to put a trophy in the cabinet. But despite les Bleus' eye-catching form this year, are we getting ahead of ourselves by assuming they'll walk over England at the Stade de France? History suggests we proceed with caution.
Before the 2010 Six Nations had even kicked off, Lièvremont said that the final match against England would be the test of how far France have come. Le Crunch has always been a special occasion. If you haven't been reading the news this week, phrases like 'taking revenge' and 'settling the score' have dominated the quotes coming out of French headquarters at Marcoussis. Le XV de France have not forgotten what happened against England last year or, for that matter, the year before.
Twelve months ago, after showing plenty of promising signs, France fell flat at Twickenham. A year earlier, les Bleus looked like cockerels sans heads as they ran the ball from just about anywhere at the Stade de France, without ever really looking like they had a plan.
Surely that won't happen on Saturday.
You can't put a price on stability and the Thierry Dusautoir and co. look rock solid. Gone are the days of chopping and changing the team and everyone seems to understand the gameplan Рeven if it is less exciting than the 'all-out-attack' stuff some where hoping for at the a start of the Li̬vremont era.
While there has been plenty of praise for the Tricolors from observers across the channel, a few pundits inside the Hexagon have noted their reservations about this teams' apparent limited ability to construct scoring opportunities of their own.
A look back on the Six Nations campaign and you'll notice that most of France's points have come from counter-attacking and profiting from opponents' errors rather than from their own phase play. It's been good enough to dominate Europe, but will they get away with it in the South?
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. France have yet to face their nemesis in white this year and as mentioned before, they've had a nasty habit of coming apart against les Anglais in recent times.
So, what of England? Last week I tried to find a silver lining to the current situation, but after another dull performance in Scotland, all anyone can see are dark clouds.
In our two readers' polls this week, you voted overwhelming for Martin Johnson to get sacked. The majority of you also said you expected England to get thrashed in Paris.
And so Johnno has taken the bold step of revamping his back-line. Will the new-look side featuring Toby Flood, Ben Foden, Mike Tindall and Chris Ashton revive England's ability to attack? Foden and Ashton have certainly looked exciting enough in green and black to present a compelling argument, but it's tough to see how a back-line starting together as a unit for the first time could trouble the tournament's top performers.
Spare a thought for James Haskell, who has been dropped to the bench. If ever there was a guy you'd expect to be up for a big performance in Paris, it would be a Stade Français flanker, who has a uncomfortable reunion with his employers awaiting him on Monday morning.
Back to Saturday's clash and like most of you out there, we reckon the Slam is there for France to grab it, assuming they keep their heads about them.
Of course, the possibility exists that France will have another meltdown and England will finally find their groove. Stranger things have happened – but it would be very strange.
Players to watch:
For France: The French pack have been simply outstanding over the course of the tournament. While the likes of Imanol Harinordoquy have been dropping jaws with powerful runs, former skipper Lionel Nallet has been doing the tireless, often overlooked hard graft in the engine room. Being relieved of the captaincy has only done the Racingman good as he can focus his energy on hitting the rucks hard.
For England: Martin Johnson has finally swung his axe, handing full-back Ben Foden a chance to impress with the national side after some storming performances in both the Guinness Premiership and in the Heineken Cup. Foden will get his first start in white on Saturday and with Northampton team-mate Chris Ashton on his outside, England fans will be hoping the duo can inject the attacking spirit that has been lacking from their back-line.
Head-to-head: If England's new-look attack get the ball out wide, watch out for the tussle between two new comers to Test rugby, Marc Andreu, in only his second Test start, and debutant Chris Ashton. With both facing stiff competition for a berth in their respective sides, a strong performance for one could be a major setback for the other.
Previous results:
2009: England won 34-10 at Twickenham, London
2008: England won 24-13 at Stade de France, Paris
2007: England won 14-9 at Stade de France, Paris (RWC)
2007: France won 22-9 at Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
2007: France won 21-15 at Twickenham, London
2007: England won 26-18 at Twickenham, London
2006: France won 31-6 at Stade de France, Paris
2005: France won 18-17 at Twickenham, London
2004: France won 24-21 at Stade de France, Paris
2003: England won 24-7 at Stadium Australia, Sydney (RWC)
2003: England won 45-14 at Twickenham, London
2003: France won 17-16 at Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
2003: England won 25-17 at Twickenham, London
2002: France won 20-15 at Stade de France, Paris
Prediction: You'd have to be very brave to bet against France. We won't. France to win by ten points.
The teams:
France: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Marc Andreu, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Julien Pierre, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Sebastien Chabal, 19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 David Marty, 22 Julien Malzieu.
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Chris Ashton, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care , 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody (c), 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Louis Deacon , 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne .
Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 James Haskell, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Jonny Wilkinson, 22 Mathew Tait.