Twickenham Stadium will light up for the first time in the 2025 Six Nations Championship this Saturday when England play host to France in a clash of the Northern Hemisphere heavyweights.
The visitors are co-favourites alongside Ireland to lift the coveted title this year, while England already find themselves in a must-win situation this early in the competition.
Match preview
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England kicked off their 2025 Six Nations campaign with a trip to Dublin where unwanted old habits reared their head, as the Red Roses yet again failed follow up on a good first-half performance against Ireland last week.
In a classic game of two halves, England shot out the blocks to take a five-point lead into the break, but their indiscipline turned the match on its head in the second period, with Ireland scoring 22 unanswered points by the 76th minute.
Steve Borthwick's side managed to put some respectability on the scoreline and gain a bonus point by the final whistle, with Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman crossing the whitewash late in the day, but that was largely attributable to the Shamrocks taking their foot off the accelerator.
Unfortunately for the Red Roses, it does not get much easier for them this week, now set to take on a French side that has beaten them in three successive Six Nations campaigns, including that thrilling 33-31 defeat last season at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon.
England will undoubtedly be eager to reverse this trend, and will perhaps take some comfort from the fact that Les Bleus have only ever beaten them four times in a row on one previous occasion in the Championship (between 1975 and 1978).
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Meanwhile, France kicked off their 2025 Six Nations journey with a ruthless performance, smashing a struggling Wales 43-0 at a freezing Stade de France last weekend to take an early lead in the standings.
After a fairly underwhelming start, Gregory Alldritt turned in a Player of the Match performance, while Antoine Dupont - back in the team after missing last year's Championship - took control and began to dictate play midway through the first half.
Theo Attissogbe (2), Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Julien Marchand, Emilien Gailleton, and Alldritt all ran in tries to the delight of the 70,000+ who endured the cold in Paris, but most would likely agree, the scoreline was a little flattering on Les Bleus.
Not everything went Fabien Galthie's side's way either, with fly-half Romain Ntamack being sent off for a high shot on Ben Thomas, which has resulted in the Toulouse star now being banned for the next three weeks.
With that result, France have now won their last four and lost only one of their last 11 international Tests (W9 D1 L1), while they have also emerged victorious in six of their last seven away games in the Six Nations since the start of 2022.
England Six Nations form:
- L
England form (all competitions):
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
France Six Nations form:
- W
France form (all competitions):
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
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For England, the key change in selection is at fly-half, where Fin Smith gets the starting nod, prompting Marcus Smith to move to the number 15 jersey, leaving no space for Freddie Steward in the squad.
In the front row, vice-captain Ellis Genge retains the loosehead prop position, with Luke Cowan-Dickie at hooker and Will Stuart at tighthead prop, forming an unchanged starting trio.
Tom Willis is set to make his first Test start for England at number eight, while the back row features Tom Curry on the blindside, Ben Earl at openside and George Martin alongside Maro Itoje in the lock positions.
Following Ntamack's red card and subsequent suspension, Matthieu Jalibert makes his return to the starting 15, having last played for Les Bleus as a substitute against Japan in November.
Thomas Ramos, who wore the number 10 jersey throughout the Autumn Series, returns to his preferred position at full-back and will join forces with Damian Penaud and Bielle-Biarrey in the back three.
There were concerns about flanker Paul Boudehent's fitness, but he has made a full recovery and will start in the loose trio alongside Alldritt and Francois Cros.
England starting lineup: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly
France starting lineup: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickaël Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Emilien Gailleton
We say: England 27-24 France
England's inability to play 80 minutes has become a bit of a theme over the past year, and unless they can rectify that issue, this year's Championship could turn into a nightmare quickly.
France were not at their absolute best in round one but still romped to a big win over Wales, and we feel they will be able to go two-for-two with a victory on enemy territory this weekend.
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Devesh Jaganath
