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There was no stopping the England juggernaut last year as they ended a 13-year wait for a Grand Slam and Eddie Jones’ side will be expected to start their Six Nations title defence with a win over France on Saturday.
Victory over Les Bleus at Twickenham would be a record 15th in a row for an England side who are favourites to retain their title despite being without several players – including Billy Vunipola and Chris Robshaw – due to injury.
England have strength in depth and the onus will be on them to lay down a marker when they lock horns with France, who have also suffered injury blows and will miss dangerous centre Wesley Fofana.
There is an air of optimism around France under Guy Noves and they have become a tougher nut to crack under the hugely experienced former Toulouse coach, but are not seen as contenders for the trophy.
HEAD TO HEAD
England: 56
France: 39
Draw: 7
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2016?
England already had the Six Nations title in the bag before heading to Paris for the final game of the tournament, but there was still the small matter of a Grand Slam to play for.
And they were not to be denied at the Stade de France, where Danny Care and Dan Cole scored first-half tries and Anthony Watson added a third after the break to ease the nerves as England won 31-21.
Maxime Machenaud kept France in it with seven penalties, but they were unable to spoil England’s party.
KEY PLAYERS
Owen Farrell (England)
While Farrell has proved to be lethal with the boot time and time again, there is so much more to his game than kicking. The inspirational Saracens man has popped up with important tries and has looked very much at home since being employed as a centre by Jones, showing intelligent game management as well as being strong in defence.
Baptiste Serin (France)
Inexperienced scrum-half Serin got the nod over Machenaud to start in a bold move from Noves. Serin will be making only his third start for France and the 22-year-old Bordeaux-Begles pivot will be under pressure to show why Noves put his faith in him.
.@FFRugbyname a new #RBS6Nations half-back pairing for Twickenham. More about Baptiste Serin & Camille Lopez ?? https://t.co/pLqSG192mY pic.twitter.com/8shbfNuUyc
— RBS 6 Nations (@SixNationsRugby) 2 February 2017
THE LINE-UPS
England: Mike Brown, Jonny May, Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley (captain), Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje, Tom Wood, Nathan Hughes.
France: Scott Spedding, Noa Nakaitaci, Remi Lamerat, Gael Fickou, Virimi Vakatawa, Camille Lopez, Baptiste Serin; Cyril Baille, Guilhem Guirado (captain), Uini Atonio, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Yoann Maestri, Damien Chouly, Kevin Gourdon, Louis Picamoles.
COACH COMMENTS
Eddie Jones (England): “It’s always a historic game, certainly there is history between France and England. There’s been 20 wars between England and France. That’s a lot of rivalry there. There is another one happening on Saturday.”
RBS 6 NATIONS | Eddie Jones talks Daly, Itoje…and France: https://t.co/Ui9nAagIHB#ENGvFRA #CarryThemHome pic.twitter.com/Kaacwg7Af9
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 2, 2017
Guy Noves (France): “We need results, it is not just performance. Last year we got the players on our wavelength, now we must strive to make things happen.”
OPTA STATS
– England have won 14 games in a row and a win against France would represent their longest ever run of consecutive victories, surpassing their run of 14 from 2002-2003. A Grand Slam would see England surpass New Zealand’s tier-one record of 18 consecutive wins.
– France have not recorded a win at Twickenham in the Six Nations since 2005, when Dimitri Yachvili kicked all of Les Bleus’ points in an 18-17 win over England.
– England have only ever lost three of 17 opening-day fixtures in the Six Nations since Italy joined in 2000 – losing to France in 2014 after going down to Wales in 2008 and 2005.
– France are one win away from recording their 400th victory, New Zealand (426) are the only other side to reach this milestone.
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Comments on RugbyPass
9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
8 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
8 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
8 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
8 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to comments