England face a fascinating test of the progress they have made under Steve Borthwick as they welcome France to Twickenham for Le Crunch in Round 4 of the Six Nations.
Borthwick’s side have bounced back well from a disheartening opening-round defeat to Scotland with wins over Italy and Wales but Fabien Galthie’s France will be a different proposition altogether entirely. The reigning grand slam champions may have lost to Ireland three weeks ago but are still in contention for the championship and have been one of the top two sides in the world over the past 18 months.
Borthwick has made his boldest team selection call yet by dropping captain Owen Farrell to the bench, with Marcus Smith starting at fly half instead. After abandoning the Smith-Farrell 10-12 axis that Eddie Jones preferred following that loss to Scotland, Farrell has owned the No 10 jersey but his struggles, especially from the kicking tee, means the coach is going in a brave new direction.
Meanwhile France - who are looking for a first win at Twickenham under Galthie - welcome back centre Jonathan Danty from injury in place of Yoram Moefana. Francois Cros also replaces the injured Anthony Jelonch in the back row and suspended prop Mohamed Haouas makes way for Dorian Aldegheri to complete the three changes from the win over Scotland last time out.
Follow live updates from England vs France in the Six Nations, below:
