Six Nations 
1
One XV change as England visit France; Tuilagi also named on bench
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.
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)
Comments on RugbyPass
Men should show strength and be mean, but they should be able to show emotion to those close yo them in certain times, birth of your child, death of family, proud moment. This article is stupid
4 Go to commentsWhat a weak article…absolute drivel and clickbait, well done. Will stick to rugby365 thanks
4 Go to commentsHonest, discipline, humility… Priceless.
2 Go to commentsSo many excuses. No mention of the SA number 2 being taken out illegally in the 2nd minute. That act of foul play had a massive impact on the SA game. Face it, NZ play pretty dirty very regularly, and it’s only since 2016 they’ve been held to higher officiating standards via stricter officiating and TMO reviews. They deserved to have a man down. Sorry. Fix the yellow and red cards and NZ will win more RWCs. Plus, there WAS a knock on invalidating the one try, so it was NOT a try. Period. Here’s a Kleenex…
210 Go to commentsOverheard conversation between NZ and SA rugby fans everywhere: We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! We’re the greatest! No we’re the greatest! Ireland are arrogant! True but they beat you! We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! Etc. etc, etc.
23 Go to commentsTypical crap Aussie weather
11 Go to comments“If they’d have beaten England, I still feel we would have been talking ‘is this the best team ever,’ ‘is this the best team that’s ever played in the Six Nations'” he said. “I still think they’re not quite that good. I actually don’t think they’re that good.” So Trimble is saying he doesn’t think this is the best 6N team of all time. He is silent on if it is the best Irish team of all time. Can’t disagree with him. Just another misrepresentative clickbait headline from the guys at RP.
23 Go to commentsWow, do we really still have to listen to all the excuses and “unfairness” of it all. Even blaming the bounce of an egg shaped ball for the loss. But the article is about context, so what about the Springboks having to play the other 5 teams in the top 6 and still beating a comparatively rested AB team on a very empty tank.
210 Go to comments“Teams would generally have three coaches below their head honcho; attack coach, defence coach, forwards coach” do they? I’m not sure what the NZ set up is tbh, but the other 4 sides top 5 sides all have very different structures to the one outlined in the article! As well as attack, defence, and forwards coaches, SA, Ireland, and France also have specialist scrum coaches. England have a specialist scrum coach too, but arguably don’t have a forwards coach, with that role taken on by Borthwick. SA also have a backs coach in addition to defence and attack, and Ireland and England have fitness coaches, with England also having two skills coaches.
2 Go to commentsWorst article I've read in a while. Trying to disguise a backhand slap as a compliment. The whole article is a bit weird and negative. I think South African men are emotional in general… think Clad le Clos’s father 2012 London Olympics.
4 Go to commentsIreland are going to win the world cup.
23 Go to commentsIt was the strangest result ever. Etzebeth should've been yellow card for his cynical retiring move and a penalty try. Birth second half tries by the Allblacks were fantastic and the TMO operating outside the law to rule out the first try was egregious. Yes, the boks got the win but it was through some bizarre officiating that allowed them to sneak home against 14 men that dominated them. The quieter Bok supporters know and acknowledge the Allblacks were the better and dominant side. Justifying the win because they beat a pre world cup Allblacks selection is silly.
210 Go to commentsA very English thing to do hey Courtney, blerrie kant
4 Go to commentsIt sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
23 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
6 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
4 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
210 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
2 Go to comments