When these sides first met, five years after King Edward VII took the British throne, England were victorious as they were on 18 out of the 21 occasions prior to the Second World War. The scoreline at the Parc des Princes in Paris on March 22 1906 was 35-8 to a visiting English side that had been playing rugby since 1871.

The rules of scoring in the early years of rugby union weren't ideal for attacking teams, a try worth just three points. Try conversions and penalty goals were the same as today but a drop-goal was worth four, even more useful for teams leaving it late to secure a victory.

In the matches after WW2 that made up the majority of the 95 matches between these two sides, France just have the upper hand, winning 35 of the matches compared to England's 33. These two teams have also drawn six times since the Second World War, half of those tied matches taking place between 1959 and 1961.

The biggest win in the long history of this fixture include England’s 37-0 victory at Twickenham five years after the first time they met. France's biggest victory came in 1972 when they won 37-12 and 31-6 in 2006. The game with the highest number of points scored was in 2001, England taking a 48-19 victory that day.

England will take on France in a crucial game for both teams Championship hopes on Sunday . Be sure to follow us on Twitter @ScrumFiveRugby for updates and discussion.