England are looking to get their Six Nations campaign back on track this evening as they play host to France.

Steve Borthwick's side were beaten by Ireland on the opening weekend and now know that they must beat Les Bleus to have any chance of securing a first title since 2020. However, they now face a French side full of confidence after blowing away Wales in a 43-0 thumping in Paris last Friday.

This fixture - known as 'Le Crunch' - is always a tasty one with fans expecting another 80 minutes full of action and dramatic moments.

READ MORE: England v France incident saw Nigel Owens put English captain in his place with one word

READ MORE: The village full of millionaires, footballers and supercars

Overseeing it all is Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli - here's what you need to know about today's referee.

Who is Nika Amashukeli?

Although a football fan as a child, Amashukeli started playing rugby aged 11 and watched his first ever match on TV during the 2007 Rugby World Cup when his father "literally forced" him to watch Ireland v Georgia.

From then on, he became "hooked" on the sport and represented Georgia as a player at U17, U18 and U19 levels. Amashukeli was even selected for the squad for the 2012 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, but was forced into retirement at just 20, having already suffered five concussions, broken an ankle and developed a knee problem.

While he was forced to stop playing, however, his love for the game lingered, leading him to move into officiating.

He made his Test debut as a referee in 2015 as he officiated the first half of Montenegro v Estonia in European Nations Cup Third Division match and went on to referee at the 2019 World U20 Championship in Argentina.

A year later, he found himself working alongside his idol Wayne Barnes during the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup. He then became the first Georgian to referee a Tier One game when he took charge of Wales v Canada in July 2021

The following year, he made his debut at the Six Nations as Ireland thrashed Italy in Dublin, while he was one of six match officials selected for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Stabbed by fan

While he has risen to the very top of the world game, Amashukeli's career was nearly ended in traumatic circumstances as a game he was refereeing back in 2016 descended into violence at the full-time whistle.

The game in the Didi 10, the top tier of Georgian rugby, had seen Armia grab a dramatic late draw against Batumi, with a miscommunication between Amashukeli and the Batumi captain causing them to let the game slip through their fingers.

In an interview with Telegraph Sport, he explained: “There was no official timekeeping – referees controlled the time. I said to one of the team captains that four minutes were remaining but he misheard me and thought I’d said two minutes.

"They kicked the ball out after two minutes but I didn’t end the game – as there were two minutes left. Then the other team caught the line-out, won a penalty, and kicked it to draw the match."

From there, things quickly spiralled, as Amashukeli continued: “The home team exploded and accused me of cheating. When the supporters saw their players getting emotional and throwing their hands up in the air, they became very emotional and started swearing.”

Soon, things turned even uglier as Amashukeli was stabbed in the leg and started losing a significant amount of blood.

“It was an emotional match,” he added. “After I left the pitch, there was a lot of abuse and swearing and the supporters followed. There was a big scuffle but the adrenaline was rushing through me. Someone had a knife. Suddenly, I felt something in my leg. I looked down, blood was pouring out. I had been stabbed."

The person who stabbed Amashukeli has never been found, but while the Georgian initially debated turning his back on the game following the incident, he went on to make a full recovery and continued his career as a referee to reach the heights he's at today.

England v France referees

• Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

• Assistant referee 1: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

• Assistant referee 2: Damian Schneider (Argentina)

• TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)