Six Nations 
1
One XV change as England visit France; Tuilagi also named on bench
By Liam Heagney
Steve Borthwick has confirmed an England team to visit France that shows just one change from the XV that humbled Ireland at Twickenham last Saturday.
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The English burst into life in their head coach’s 20th game in charge, ending Irish hopes of back-to-back Guinness Six Nations Grand Slams with a redemptive 23-22 triumph in London.
That win has ensured that the 2024 title race has gone down to the wire and Borthwick will go in against the French with a side that has one backline switch.
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A try-scorer against the Irish in what was his first Test start, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso reported a concussion at the start of this week that ruled him out of round five.
The rookie had taken the place of the benched Elliot Daly for the round four match, and the long-serving back now returns to start on the left wing with Tommy Freeman moving across to the right wing berth that Feyi-Waboso had occupied.
On the bench, the vacancy left by Daly will be filled by Manu Tuilagi for his first appearance in his championship, while the spot up for grabs following the calf injury suffered by Chandler Cunningham-South has been taken by Ethan Roots.
Roots was the blindside starter in the three England games in February before he was dropped to accommodate George Martin’s start versus Ireland.
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In an RFU media release, Borthwick said: “After such a hard-fought win against Ireland last week, we realise how important it is to back that performance up with another similar display in Lyon on Saturday.
“France remain one of the very top sides in the world and will pose a great challenge for us. We have had a great preparation so far this week and there is a genuine sense of anticipation and determination around the camp as we head to an exciting final weekend.”
France, meanwhile, have named an unchanged match day 23 following their win over Wales last Sunday in Cardiff.
England (vs France, Saturday)
15. George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 8 caps)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 61 caps)
12. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 23 caps)
11. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 68 caps)
10. George Ford (Sale Sharks, 95 caps) – vice-captain
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 14 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 61 caps) – vice-captain
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 89 caps) – captain
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 111 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 80 caps) – vice-captain
5. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 11 caps)
6. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 22 caps)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 34 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 29 caps)
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Replacements:
16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 11 caps)
17. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 92 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 37 caps)
19. Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps)
20. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 16 caps)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 100 caps)
22. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 31 caps)
23. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 59 caps)
Finn.
Maybe you watched a different game. But the in the one everyone else saw there was a huge cheer when Ford went off and Marcus came on . The tempo picked up , he made a break and far from the England attack struggling i seem to remember Marcus kicked the winning drop goal .
I have heard of short memory but less than a week takes the biscuit.
Only in England would a superstar be left out of the starting team .
If the game was at Twickers there would be quite a call for Borthwick to reverse his Mr Steady George decision .
The championship won’t go down to the wire. Barring a miracle, Ireland will win it
I’ll be happy if England can put in another performance like they did against Ireland. This will show they can be consistent and play with the same level if intensity week on week.
I do think an away win in France is marginally harder than a home win against Ireland, but a losing bonus point would convince me that last week wasn’t a fluke.
The decision to stick with Ford is a very positive one. Marcus Smith is a great bench player, but when he has started games at 10 the english attack has struggled.
I was initially surprised to see Tuilagi included, as he will have to cover wing, but I guess the new defensive system might work well with him out wide. In general I don’t want Tuilagi to be part of a backfield pendulum, but blitzing in on the opposition centres he could be pretty deadly.
Smith could be used to cover full-back and put Furbank on the wing if needs be I suppose.