Simon Gleave
Head of sports analysis, Gracenote

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• Demba Bamba becomes the second player from last year's U-20 World Championship winning team to start a Six Nations Championship match, after Romain Ntamack last week. Bamba is the only player in this year's Six Nations playing this season outside the Premiership, Pro14 or Top 14. He is playing for Pro D2 side Brive on loan from Lyon.
• Aged 20 years and 330 days, Demba Bamba is the youngest prop to start a Test for France for 39 years, since Jean-Paul Wolf against South Africa in 1980. In the Six Nations, Bamba is the youngest French starting prop for 65 years - since Amedee Domenech against France in 1954.
• Morgan Parra becomes the most capped scrum-half for France as his 65th cap in the position takes him ahead of Fabien Galthié who played 64 times for France from 1991 to 2003. Parra wins his 71st cap in total having also played six matches at fly-half.

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Centres Mathieu Bastareaud and Geoffrey Doumayrou are among six changes France have made after losing to Wales.

Gael Fickou starts on the wing with Yoann Huget moving to full-back.

In the pack, 20-year-old Demba Bamba starts at tight-head in place of Uini Atonio, flanker Yacouba Camara takes over from Wenceslas Lauret and lock Felix Lambey replaces Paul Willemse.

Replacements:16-Pierre Bourgarit, 17-Dany Priso, 18-Dorian Aldegheri, 19-Paul Willemse, 20-Gregory Alldritt, 21-Antoine Dupont, 22-Romain Ntamack, 23-Thomas Ramos

Simon Gleave
Head of sports analysis, Gracenote

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• Aged 31 years and 318 days, Chris Ashton will be the oldest starter to be employed on the wing by England in a Six Nations match for 12 years since Jason Robinson played there in the 27-18 defeat by Wales in 2007. Ashton is the third oldest England wing in the competition in the professional era, after Rory Underwood and Robinson.
• Ashton has played five matches against France - four in the Six Nations and one in the World Cup - but is still awaiting his first try against the French team.
• Just six of this weekend's starting XV were on the pitch at the beginning of last year's defeat in Paris. Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Courtney Lawes, Owen Farrell, Jonny May and Elliot Daly make up that group. Kyle Sinckler started on the bench for that match.
• England's pack was actually heavier than France's last week according to the Six Nations. With Uini Atonio replaced by Demba Bamba, the weight difference between the two teams' packs is over 50kg (England 928kg, France 870kg).

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England winger Chris Ashton makes a first Six Nations start since 2013 so Jack Nowell drops to the bench.

The only other change from the team that beat Ireland last week is in the pack where second row Courtney Lawes replaces the injured Maro Itoje.

Front rows Dan Cole and Ben Moon, as well as second row Joe Launchbury, are also on the bench at Twickenham.

Replacements:16-Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17-Ben Moon, 18-Dan Cole, 19-Joe Launchbury, 20-Nathan Hughes, 21-Dan Robson, 22-George Ford, 23-Jack Nowell

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Right, without further ado, let's get a reminder of the team news ahead of kick-off.

By the way, after munching various unlikely cuts of meat in the Queensland jungle, these two are about to chow down on a pork pie of two in the West car park.

T'riffic.

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

We will have live radio coverage of this one from around 14:30 GMT.

Former England fly-half Paul Grayson is alongside rugby union correspondent Chris Jones in the Twickenham crow's nest.

They've done their homework, they've wrapped up warm, they are ready to go.

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Tom Fordyce
BBC chief sports writer at Twickenham

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A wet night has turned into a dry day at Twickenham, the forecasted rain gone for now and the fresh wind whipping around the concourses not making it through to the playing surface.

For the middle of February at the coldest place in south-west London it could be far less amenable for positive rugby.

Image source, L'Equipe

With seven defeats in their last eight Tests, France have been subject to a savage debrief in their domestic press.

L'Equipe's front page featured a one-word headline: 'Despair'.

Legendary flanker Oliver Magne called for a wholesale clear-out of the team's older generation. "At the first hitch, they collapse psychologically. This generation has been associated with defeat for too long," he told Midi Olympique. "They are deeply traumatised.”

L'Equipe's front page this morning is not optimistic, seemingly braced for a thrashing.

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

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The Women's Six Nations encounter between England and France is reaching it's conclusion over in Doncaster.

Billed as a potential title decider, it has been a hum-dinging contest so far.

England lead 41-12 with around 15 minutes to play.

Check in over here for live radio and text commentary.

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While England were making confetti on pre-match prediction columns in Dublin, France were messily imploding.

When Camille Lopez snapped a long-distance dropper to send his side down the tunnel 16-0 up on Wales at half-time, all seemed well.

Never before in the 136-year history of the tournament has a team blown such a healthy half-time lead.

But this France team has unerring accuracy only when it come to aiming the shotgun on it's own shoes.

Cue a Yoann Huget bout of butterfingers, second row Sebastien Vahaamahina throwing an open invitation to intercept and Wales wound up winning 24-19.

Chris Jones
BBC rugby union correspondent at Twickenham

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The French may not have won at Twickenham in the Six Nations since 2005, but their players look relaxed with an hour to go until kick-off, strolling onto the Twickenham pitch sipping cups of coffee

The Times

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Former Wales captain Sam Warburton, writing in the Times,, external was impressed by England's win in Dublin, but warns that it is difficult to replicate that intensity every week.

"I have not seen an England team reach such emotional levels for a long time. They were so pumped up to physically impose themselves. As a team, you can only hit that absolute emotional pinnacle a handful of times a year. That seemed like one of those occasions," he writes.

"Can England reproduce that performance against France? I don’t think they will feel under pressure to do so. They will be flying with confidence, raring to face France and show what they can do in front of their home crowd.

"It has to be an England win, by 15 points."

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Nothing like a good weekend away is there?

Take in the sights of a foreign capital. Sample some local cuisine and hospitality. Blow Six Nations assumptions asunder.

After last weekend's seismic victory over Ireland in Dublin, England return to home turf today to take on France.

Can they back up a brilliant laser-focused display with more of the same? Or can the French derail a bandwagon that suddenly has a lot of momentum and a fair few more passengers?

Mentally Ireland have the edge on England, physically England will take them to the wire but the Aviva Stadium will be the difference. Ireland by six. (Stuart Barnes, external)

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The hosts are confident, well-drilled and should ultimately be too good for the away team. Ireland by 8. (Planet Rugby, external)

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If Johnny Sexton can stay injury free, then I don't see anyone stopping Ireland. (Maggie Alphonsi, external)

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