Investec Challenge: 11 August 07, Twickenham Stadium
ENGLAND v FRANCE
Match Preview

A sense of last-man standing has permeated the minds of many England supporters when considering Brian Ashton’s need to reduce his squad down to the final 30 destined for the World Cup in September. Dan Ward Smith and Charlie Hodgson are already on their way home with no hope of making the 30 man squad, and Gloucester centre Mike Tindall is a serious doubt for the competition as he struggles to regain fitness since breaking his leg last season. On form winger, David Strettle has also now been ruled out of the entire World Cup after breaking a bone in his left foot. Although highly inexperienced in the international arena and completely under-used against Wales, this is but the latest blow to England and the young winger himself who had already missed out the tour to South Africa in the Summer through illness.

"All I want to do now is hope that the operation goes well and then start to get myself fit to play for Harlequins again as soon as I can," he told the Rugby Football Union website.

Further niggling injuries have kept Mark Cueto (groin), Tom Rees (hamstring), Peter Richards (back) and now Lewis Moody (calf) out of action however none are thought to be serious and should be able to play again fairly soon, and one would expect all three to make the 30-man squad, regardless of whether they plan in the final match in Marseille next week.

Brian Ashton has made 10 changes to the starting XV that thrashed Wales 62-5 last weekend in an attempt to learn more about the other players in his squad.

After suffering a slight knock the previous weekend, Phil Vickery has been rested and replaced by Matt Stevens, who excelled when coming off the bench against Wales. His ability in the loose as well as the scrum will be of massive importance to England’s more mobile, yet just as fearsome pack. Apart from Stevens the front row remains the same with Bristol hooker Mark Regan hoping for a similar lineout success rate than last week (100%).

Steve Borthwick appears to have done enough to have made it into the world cup squad and he drops from the starting XV to the bench (replacing Joe Worsley who has now taken Lewis Moody’s place in the back row). Ben Kay having excelled for Tigers during the season is given his chance to shine alongside Wasps giant Simon Shaw. The omission of Palmer in the second row could perhaps mean a similar omission from the 30-man squad.

Lawrence Dallaglio has been rewarded for his good performance off the bench against Wales with a start this week; no doubt in an effort to see if the two-time Heineken Cup winner has the ability to play for a full game. James Haskell is at 6, with Worsley once again at 7. By now Ashton must be rueing his decision to dispense with both Andy Hazell and Magnus Lund, both genuine opensides of very high class. Whilst Worsley did well against Wales his ability to pass and offload in the tackle will be carefully monitored by the coaching set-up.

Shaun Perry is given another chance at scrum half and it will be interesting to see how he does behind a pack that is highly unlikely to dominate their opposition in the same way as they did against Wales. He may be guaranteed a spot in the 30-man squad but he still has to perform to prove he has what it takes to be first choice.

Olly Barkley is rewarded for his highly respectable performance for the England Saxons against the New Zealand Maori in the Churchill Cup final. The Bath centre-cum-fly half starts at 10 for England.

Yet another week, yet another centre combination. Mike Catt returns to the 12 shirt and captains the side to face France. Catt performed well in both his games in the Six Nations before coming off injured against Wales. With faster acceleration and overall speed when compared to Farrell he will be looking to press his claim as first choice inside centre, if he isn’t considered that by Ashton already.

Catt said that England must improve on what they did last weekend against Wales to have a chance of beating the French.

"Saturday is not about the individual performances, it's about beating France, which is the ultimate goal," he said. "If we win, then the 15 or the 22 involved have got a good chance to get into the final 30 for the World Cup. We've got to look at it that way rather than at the individual side of things. We've got some exciting players so we will stick to what we are good at and play to our strengths and field position is going to be very important to us. I'd like to see a bit more variation than last week but we'll play it by ear. There are a lot of leaders on the pitch so hopefully we can change things as the game progresses."

Josh Lewsey returns on the wing after his disappointing performance against France in the Six Nations and the Wasps winger definitely has something to prove to his doubters. With Strettle out of the world cup, the second winger position will no doubt be occupied by one of Lewsey, Sackey, Cueto or even Tait. Paul Sackey himself plays on the opposite wing and, as with his Wasps club-mate will also want to impress Ashton and prove that he has the offensive as well as defensive skills needed to start for England. Although Sackey had a poor time with the Saxons earlier this year he has still been in fantastic form for Wasps, and in particular proved instrumental in negating Leicester powerhouse Alesana Tuilagi in the Heineken Cup final.

Bath star Nick Abendanon appears to have won his battle with Danny Cipriani for the number 15 shirt, with the latter having to be satisfied with a position on the bench. Having dispatched Olly Morgan from the squad, Ashton will be hoping that Abendanon performs on the day thereby providing an alternative to Mark Cueto at full back.

Lee Mears warms the bench once again and will be hoping to make his mark on the game, though it is good to see that Ashton has given him a run out as opposed to possibly the more obvious choice of George Chuter. Phil Vickery, Martin Corry, Steve Borthwick, Andy Gommersall, Jonny Wilkinson and Danny Cipriani fill the remaining six places on the bench.

Lock Fabien Pelous and fly half Frederic Michalak are set to make comebacks for France from serious injuries in a Rugby World Cup warmup against England on Saturday.

France coach Bernard Laporte named a full-strength 22-man squad Tuesday for the first of two Tests against England. The second Test is Aug. 18 at Marseille. Pelous, who can equal Philippe Sella's national record of 111 games for France at Twickenham, last played for Les Bleus in the Test series against New Zealand in November due to a chronic ankle injury. Michalak hasn't played for France since injuring his knee in a Six Nations match against Wales in March 2006. The fly half had surgery in November before resuming play for Toulouse. He is likely to relegate David Skrela to the reserves bench.

"Our goal is to prepare well for the World Cup and get our game in place, but it would be good to win at Twickenham," France team manager Jo Maso said. "That would make us stronger and more confident. We put together the best team of the moment."

England team:
Abendanon (Bath), Sackey (Wasps), Noon (Newcastle), Catt (London Irish, capt) Lewsey (Wasps), Barkley (Bath), Perry (Bristol); Sheridan (Sale), Regan (Bristol), Stevens (Bath), Shaw (Wasps), Kay (Leicester), Haskell (Wasps), Worsley (Wasps) Dallaglio (Wasps).

Replacements: Mears (Bath), Vickery (Wasps), Corry (Leicester), Borthwick (Bath), Gomarsall (Harlequins), Wilkinson (Newcastle), Cipriani (Wasps)

France team:
C Poitrenaud; V Clerc (both Toulouse), D Marty (Perpignan), Y Jauzion (Toulouse), A Rougerie (Clermont-Auvergne); D Skrela (Stade Francais), P Mignoni (Clermont-Auvergne); O Milloud (Bourgoin), R Ibanez (Wasps, capt), J-B Poux, F Pelous (both Toulouse), J Thion, S Betsen (both Biarritz), R Martin (Stade Francais), J Bonnaire (Bourgoin).

Replacements: D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), N Mas (Perpignan), S Chabal (Sale), Y Nyanga, J-B Elissalde, F Michalak, C Heymans (all Toulouse).