The French team meanwhile, is still recovering from the last gasp victory in Paris – it could even be still in recovery from the mauling it received from the All Blacks in the autumn.

Andy Robinson may be preparing for the 2007 World Cup but he will also be aware that his masters are unlikely to tolerate a poor run in this year’s championship. It’s too early to talk of his position being under threat but a significant improvement in England’s performance will be expected. Bernard LaPorte too, must be concerned that his team is misfiring badly. Yet it is a team packed with stars from clubs that are dominating the Heineken Cup. Added to that the question for France as usual is will the team travel – which France will appear on the pitch on Saturday?

So how will both teams achieve that significant improvement?

The English disjointed, slow style of attacking play has to go, as has the terrible defence. Too often on Saturday the English backs were misaligned against the Welsh – this cannot happen against the French who will punish England with width and speed. The pace of the English play has to change – it seemed England were playing 10 man rugby by accident on Saturday – very often attacking forwards became isolated whilst the link to the backs was non-existent. The French meanwhile, must improve such that they can respond to any game plan a team might play. On Saturday, the French seemed confused as to how to respond to Scotland’s simple approach, there was no French plan B when they didn’t dominate the early encounters. The French it appears, need to be able to dominate their opposition from the start and even more importantly have some sort of response if that doesn’t happen.

So where are the key areas?

The Back Row – with Betsen back (how?), England’s back row decision making must improve. The French backs row are dynamic runners of the ball, passing from hand fluently and confidently. They have the ability to break the gain line and grab significant metres when teams hesitate. Corry and Moody return and Lewis Moody must be at his ebullient, aggressive best. I’d liked to have to seen Chris Jones retained – he brought some welcome pace to a very heavy legged back row performance on Saturday. He’s also a very useful alternative as a line-out jumper. Worsley needs to start delivering performances similar to the semi-final of the Heineken Cup last year. Both Corry and Moody need to attack Yachvilli and Delaigue. The two French half-backs are confidence players who have shown some fragility at Test level.

The Front Row – Much has been written about England’s hooker, Steve Thompson – at this stage it would have been a major surprise if Andy Robinson had dropped him. The lighter English pack held their own against a heaver Welsh pack but the front three are going to have a tough time dealing with the likes of Bruno. The work rate and communication for all three of the English front row has to improve if they are to improve their performances in the lose and maul. I believe the welcome return of Phil Vickery will provide that – his impact in the Wales game was immediate. It will be interesting to see the performance of and hear the reporting of England’s line-out – England lost 3 out 20 line-outs on Saturday.

Half-backs - Yachvilli and Delaigue are a combination of players on form. Ellis and Hodgson will need to be at their best to counter the French attacking flair – I’m pleased for Ellis, he should have played on Saturday but I can understand Robinson may have some concerns about his temperament. There has to be more understanding between 9 and 10 and the slow ball which Dawson managed to slow down even further will stop.

And last and not least Ollie Barkley makes his return in the centre – we have two kickers on the field and two play makers – let’s hope England take advantage of all this pace and run at the French.

So the England team for Saturday is:
England:
15 J Robinson (Sale, capt)
14 M Cueto (Sale)
13 J Noon (Newcastle)
12 O Barkley (Bath)
11 J Lewsey (Wasps)
10 C Hodgson (Sale)
9 H Ellis (Leicester)
1 G Rowntree (Leicester)
2 S Thompson (Northampton)
3 P Vickery (Gloucester)
4 D Grewcock (Bath)
5 B Kay (Leicester)
6 J Worsley (Wasps)
7 L Moody (Leicester)
8 M Corry (Leicester).
Replacements: A Titterrell (Sale), A Sheridan (Sale), S Borthwick (Bath), A Hazell (Gloucester), M Dawson (Wasps), H Paul (Gloucester), B Cohen (Northampton).


We wish them well and let’s take it to the French.

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