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England make three changes, including giving Max Malins a first Test start

(Photo by PA)

England have made three changes to their team to play France on Saturday at Twickenham in round four of the Guinness Six Nations following their February 27 24-40 away loss to Wales. Coach Eddie Jones has opted to give Max Malins his first-ever Test level start, while Luke Cowan-Dickie and Charlie Ewels are called into the pack.

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Malins, 24, has so far made all six of his appearances off the bench but he now takes over from the benched Elliot Daly in an otherwise unchanged backline. In the forwards, Cowan-Dickie – a starter in round two versus Italy – takes back the hooking jersey from Jamie George while Ewels is set to make only his second-ever Six Nations start, taking over from the benched Jonny Hill. 

Jones said: “This France game is one we are really looking forward to. We are of course disappointed that we can’t defend the championship, but that makes this an even more important game.

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“We want to show what we are capable of. The squad have competed really hard in training since Sunday. I believe this is the best 23 to really take the game to France and get us on the front foot.”

On the bench, Jones has gone with a five/three forwards/backs split, one more back then he had at his disposal in Cardiff. It sees the uncapped George Martin excluded from the bench and a recall for Ollie Lawrence, the midfielder who hasn’t been involved since his round one start versus Scotland.

The defending champions are currently fourth on the Six Nations table with just six points, eight points behind the leaders Wales and three shy of France who have a game in hand. Ireland, who host the English on March 20 in Dublin, are in third on seven points.    

ENGLAND (vs France, Saturday)
15. Max Malins (Bristol Bears, 6 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 49 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 37 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (Saracens, 91 caps) (C)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 64 caps)
10. George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 75 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 107 caps)
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 65 caps)
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 29 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 42 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 46 caps)
5. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 19 caps)
6. Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 21 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 31 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 59 caps)
FINISHERS
16. Jamie George (Saracens, 57 caps)
17. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 26 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 10 caps)
19. Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 7 caps)
20. Ben Earl (Bristol Bears, 11 caps)
21. Dan Robson (Wasps, 10 caps)
22. Ollie Lawrence (Worcester Warriors, 4 caps)
23. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 50 caps)

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AM 4 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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