England had won four of their last five meetings with France and only once in the last 11 Six Nations meetings with the French had England failed to score a try. France on the other hand, were unbeaten in ten matches at the Stade de France, a run stretching back to 2008.

The visitors were forced into making a late change when Charlie Sharples came in for David Strettle who had suffered a chest injury in mid-week. France made a tactical change in switching their half back pairing from Parra and Trinh-duc to Beauxis and Dupuy and England were targeting a clean sweep of away wins in the 2012 tournament, a feat completed only five times before in the Six Nations.

Manu Tuilagi talks to Russell Hargreaves ahead of England's clash with France tomorrow.


Credit: Nick Heath/Rugby Media

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.

England have called up Gloucester wing Charlie Sharples to replace injured David Strettle. Strettle, who has stood out for England so far in the tournament, has been ruled out of England's clash with France in Paris tomorrow with a chest injury.

Sharples, 22, won his only cap as a replacement against Wales last August and tomorrow's match will be his first start for England. The Gloucester youngster will start on the left wing in place of Strettle.

IRB Junior Player of the Year for 2011, George Ford, proved his incredible talent by kicking Leicester Tigers into the LV=Cup final as they narrowly beat Bath 17-16 at the Rec on Friday night.

Leicester, who didn't make the best of starts to their Aviva Premiership campaign, will be able to take some pressure off their shoulders in knowing they may have a simpler route to Heineken Cup qualification in the Anglo-Welsh Cup final where they will face Northampton or Scarlets.

Following speculation that Brumbies coach Jake White was in the frame to take over as England boss, it has emerged that he has declined the offer. White Tweeted: "Always hard turning down a chance to win a world cup, but rugby is about making the right decisions and that's to stay with @BrumbiesRugby"

Yesterday it seemed that White was the frontrunner to become Martin Johnson's permanent successor but promised he would Stay with the Brumbies until the end of the new Super Rugby season which is only in its third week. White took South Africa to Rugby World Cup glory back in 2007 and is currently only eight months into a four year deal with the Brumbies.

Credit: Russell Hargreaves/Talking Rugby

Current coach of the Brumbies Jake White has confirmed he has been approached by the RFU to take charge of England as Martin Johnson's permanent successor. However, the former South Africa coach has promised to remain in his current post for the rest of the 2012 Super Rugby which is only in its third week.

White is currently only eight months into a four-year deal with the Brumbies but is among the front-runners to take charge of England.