England will look to bounce back from their opening round defeat to Ireland as they welcome France to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

Steve Borthwick’s side suffered their seventh defeat in their last nine games in Dublin as a difficult period continues, with familiar flaws re-appearing at the start of this Six Nations campaign.

It makes this a crucial contest against a France side flying after a 43-0 win against Wales and with happy memories of their last visit here.

France dealt England a 53-10 drubbing in 2023 and will hope to produce a similarly devastating performance to continue their title charge.

Here’s everything you need to know.

When is England vs France?

The round two Six Nations clash between England and France is due to kick off at 4.45pm GMT on Saturday 8 February at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

How can I watch it?

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on ITV1, with television coverage following the conclusion of Italy vs Wales at 4.15pm GMT. A live stream will be available via ITVX.

Team news

Marcus Smith is shifted to full-back by Steve Borthwick as Fin Smith is handed a first international start at fly half, with Freddie Steward dropped entirely from the squad. Tom Willis is called in to the starting back row as Ben Earl slides across to seven, while Ollie Sleightholme is the beneficiary of an unfortunate injury to last week’s debutant, Cadan Murley. A 6/2 bench split is again favoured by the England coach, matching their opponents, with Jamie George and Elliot Daly adding a bit of extra experience.

With Romain Ntamack suspended after his sending off against Wales, Matthieu Jalibert returns to the France side at fly half as one of two changes. A fit-again Damian Penaud replaces Theo Attissogbe on the wing, with two tries in the opener not enough for the Pau youngster to remain in the matchday 23. Thibaud Flament remains out, so Alexandre Roumat remains in the second row. Fabien Galthie was rumoured to be considering tweaks to his bench but it is the same group of impact replacements.

Line-ups

England XV: 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Will Stuart; 4 Maro Itoje (capt.), 5 George Martin; 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Tom Willis; 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 Fin Smith; 11 Tom Roebuck, 12 Henry Slade, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Tommy Freeman; 15 Marcus Smith.

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 XV: 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 3 Uini Atonio; 4 Alexandre Roumat, 5 Emmanuel Meafou; 6 Francois Cros, 7 Paul Boudehent, 8 Gregory Alldritt; 9 Antoine Dupont (capt.), 10 Matthieu Jalibert; 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 12 Yoram Moefana, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 14 Damian Penaud; 15 Thomas Ramos.

Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou; 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Emilien Gailleton.

Odds

England win 21/10

Draw 25/1

France win 1/2

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