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England name team to take on France


England squad
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England men’s head coach Eddie Jones has named his team to face France in their second Guinness Six Nations match on Sunday 10 February at Twickenham Stadium.

Jones has made two changes to the starting XV that beat Ireland last weekend with Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints) selected in the second row following the injury to Maro Itoje (Saracens) in Dublin.

Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks) is named on the right wing in place of Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) who will be among the finishers on Sunday. It will be Ashton’s first start in the Six Nations since 2013.

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Joe Launchbury (Wasps) and Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs) are included as finishers for the first time this tournament.

Eddie Jones said: “After the Ireland game we have had to refocus and reset. Players have been very good and certainly by Sunday we’ll be at our best.

“The French are always an interesting side to play against. They are full of talent, they have a lot of unpredictability so it’s hard to prepare tactically against them so we have had a real focus on ourselves.

“It is unfortunate Maro is injured but he has been rehabbing well so we are hopeful he will be back earlier than maybe first predicted. We have got great depth in the squad so Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes will fill his shoes very well.

“We have gone for Chris Ashton on the wing; we think he might sneak us a try early in the game. Jack Nowell was brilliant against Ireland and he’ll play a significant role for us off the bench.

“We can’t wait to play in front of our supporters, I’m sure they will be buoyant by the first round results and we promise we will play a better game on Sunday.”

England have won nine of the last 12 Six Nations games against France with the Les Bleus only having managed one win at Twickenham in the Six Nations era back in 2005.

England starting XV (555 caps)

15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 26 caps)
14 Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks, 43 caps)
13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)
12 Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 28 caps)
11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 41 caps)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 66 caps) (c)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 81 caps)

1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 52 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 33 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 18 caps)
4 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 69 caps)
5 George Kruis (Saracens, 28 caps)
6 Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 9 caps)
7 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 6 caps)
8 Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 37 caps)

Finishers (249 caps)

16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 8 caps)
17 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs, 4 caps)
18 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 82 caps)
19 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 54 caps)
20 Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 19 caps)
21 Dan Robson (Wasps, uncapped)
22 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps)
23 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 30 caps)

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NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

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