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England train ahead of Six Nations showdown with France at Twickenham

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The England rugby squad trained at Twickenham Stadium on Friday as they geared up for Saturday’s p[otentially pivotal clash with France in the Six Nations Championsship.

The hosts are suffering a serious slump in form, losing seven of their last nine Tests - all to Tier One nations - and face a France side containing the world’s best player in Antoine Dupont.

Looking to change the dynamic, head coach Steve Borthwick has made a bold switch at fly-half for “Le Crunch”, with Fin Smith starting at 10 and Marcus Smith shifted to full-back.

22 year-old Fin Smith will make his first Test start after seven appearances off the bench, with his Northampton team-mate Ollie Sleightholme coming in for the injured Cadan Murley on the wing.

Tom Willis is at number eight in the only other change to the starting XV which lost 27-22 to Ireland in Dublin on Saturday as Ben Earl moves to open-side flanker and Ben Curry drops to the bench.

France have recalled fly-half Matthieu Jalibert to replace the suspended Romain Ntamack and Damian Penaud, who has scored 36 tries in 53 previous appearances for his country, returns on the wing after a toe injury.

The 28 year-old is only two scores short of Serge Blanco's France all-time try-scoring record.

“Les Bleus” will be buoyed by their 43-0 thrashing of Wales in Paris last Friday in the opening round of this year’s Championship, and they trounced England 53-10 when they last visited London in the 2023 Six Nations, Borthwick’s first tournament as England coach.

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