Quartet named in England side

By Mark Stevens
8/2/19

England men’s head coach Eddie Jones has named his team to face France in their second Guinness Six Nations match on Sunday at Twickenham Stadium (3pm, live on ITV Sport).

Jones has made two changes to the starting XV that beat Ireland last weekend with Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints) selected in the second row following the injury to Maro Itoje (Saracens) in Dublin.

Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks) is named on the right wing in place of Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) who will be among the finishers on Sunday. It will be Ashton’s first start in the Six Nations since 2013.

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Joe Launchbury (Wasps) and Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs) are included as finishers for the first time this tournament.

Jones said: “After the Ireland game we have had to refocus and reset. Players have been very good and certainly by Sunday we’ll be at our best.

“The French are always an interesting side to play against. They are full of talent, they have a lot of unpredictability so it’s hard to prepare tactically against them so we have had a real focus on ourselves.

“It is unfortunate Maro is injured but he has been rehabbing well so we are hopeful he will be back earlier than maybe first predicted. We have got great depth in the squad so Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes will fill his shoes very well.

“We have gone for Chris Ashton on the wing; we think he might sneak us a try early in the game. Jack Nowell was brilliant against Ireland and he’ll play a significant role for us off the bench.

“We can’t wait to play in front of our supporters, I’m sure they will be buoyant by the first round results and we promise we will play a better game on Sunday.”

England have won nine of the last 12 Six Nations games against France with the Les Bleus only having managed one win at Twickenham in the Six Nations era back in 2005.

England starting XV to face France

15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 26 caps)
14 Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks, 43 caps)
13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)
12 Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 28 caps)
11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 41 caps)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 66 caps, capt)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 81 caps)
1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 52 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 33 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 18 caps)
4 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 69 caps)
5 George Kruis (Saracens, 28 caps)
6 Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 9 caps)
7 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 6 caps)
8 Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 37 caps)

16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 8 caps)
17 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs, 4 caps)
18 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 82 caps)
19 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 54 caps)
20 Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 19 caps)
21 Dan Robson (Wasps, uncapped)
22 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps)
23 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 30 caps)