England coach Steve Borthwick says the "exciting partnership" of Fin Smith and Marcus Smith can ignite their Six Nations campaign against France after he paired both playmakers in the backline.

Fin Smith will start at fly-half for the first time at Twickenham, with Marcus Smith moved to full-back as the home side seek to bounce back from last week's 27-22 defeat by champions Ireland.

Fin Smith will be alongside Alex Mitchell, his half-back partner at Northampton, while Freddie Steward, England's full-back in their tournament opener in Dublin, is no longer in the matchday 23.

England have lost their past seven Tests against major nations but Borthwick hopes deploying both Smiths in the same starting side for the first time can derail France.

Fin Smith, 22, is seen as the more tactical fly-half, with 25-year-old Marcus Smith providing a counter-attacking threat.

But Steward's absence could leave England exposed defensively at full-back against a France side captained by star scrum-half Antoine Dupont that thrashed Wales 43-0 last week.

"I think it's an exciting partnership," Borthwick said of his pair of Smiths on Thursday.

"We trained that combination together a multiple number of times previously. You've got two ball-players there, you've got players who both see space, both in the front line and the backfield, so I'm excited to see how they go together."

- 'Sort of genius' -

France coach Fabien Galthie, speaking before Borthwick named his side, even went so far as to laud Marcus Smith as a "sort of genius".

"He's a unique player for the English," Galthie said Thursday. "He's a sort of genius. He's an unparalleled attacker, capable of changing a game with a sidestep, an acceleration, a drop-kick, a pass.

"I'm not the England coach, but the question they must be asking is 'How can we use his potential as best as possible for the team?'

"There's a debate. He started at 10 then they brought on Fin Smith against Ireland at the end of the game."

Marcus Smith, however, was one of several players who missed key tackles against Ireland whereas Fin Smith's aggressive defence has drawn comparisons with England fly-half great Jonny Wilkinson.

"Early this season, we had Fin at 30 tackles in a game for Northampton," Borthwick said at the England squad's Bagshot training base.

"It tells you a lot about the personality -- he's tough, he's brave. When players see a fly-half willing to defend like that they have immense respect for him.

"We can talk all about those different skill-sets, which he certainly has, he's an elite player, but he's also a very tough, brave young man."

Ollie Sleightholme, another Northampton back, returns on the left wing in place of the injured Cadan Murley.

And with club-mate Tommy Freeman on the other wing, England have four Northampton men behind the scrum.

"It's one of the considerations to have a number of players that play together," said Borthwick. "You see the team we're playing against in France, what they have done for so many years now is select from a number of their top teams.

"The obvious one is Toulouse and the spine of the team comes from Toulouse.... It's certainly beneficial in the international environment to have players who've played together a number of times."

Tom Willis comes in to add heft at No 8 as Saracens colleague Ben Earl moves to openside flanker in a revamped back row.

Saracens lock Maro Itoje leads England following his debut match as captain against Ireland.

Ben Curry drops to a bench featuring returning ex-England captain Jamie George and veteran utility back Elliot Daly.

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