Smith set to start at fly-half for England

Fin Smith has made all seven of his previous Test appearances as a replacement

Men's Six Nations: England v France

Date: Saturday, 8 February Kick-off: 16:45 GMT Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds, with live text commentary on the BBC Sport website

Marcus Smith is set to start at full-back and Fin Smith at fly-half for England in Saturday's Six Nations match with France at Allianz Stadium.

If confirmed, it will be a first Test start for Northampton's Fin Smith, 22, after winning his previous seven caps from the bench.

It means Marcus Smith is poised to switch to his more unfamiliar position of full-back, having started England's last eight games at number 10.

England will confirm their starting XV and replacements on Thursday.

In his BBC Sport column on Sunday following the 27-22 defeat by Ireland, former England scrum-half Matt Dawson said of the upcoming France match: "I would keep the starting XV from this [Ireland] defeat - the spirit and energy in the first half was something to cling on to.

"Switching Marcus Smith to full-back would put England's most reliable game-breaker too far from the action. Ireland also had some success peppering him with high balls in the backfield. France would surely follow suit."

On Fin Smith, he said: "I thought Fin Smith added to England when he came on in the final 15 minutes. There is something about him. He is supremely composed and invariably picks good options to keep the team moving forward in attack."

France travel to Twickenham (16:45 GMT kick-off) having thrashed Wales in round one, buoyed by a 53-10 victory in this fixture two years ago.

Meanwhile, England's loss in Dublin leaves Steve Borthwick's side on a record seven-match losing run against tier one nations.

"We are the England rugby team and we want to win and we know the expectations that come with it," senior coach Richard Wigglesworth told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

"I have no problem with people wanting to see more wins because that is what I want and what we are all working towards.

"The outcome that we want is to win, so we are not avoiding that."

England are also set to make changes in the back row and in the back three, with Tom Willis understood to be in line for a first Test start at number eight.

Wigglesworth says the coaches need to weigh up consistent selection with picking the right team to beat France.

"What England did for many, many years was chop and change the team, so you end up with low levels of cohesion and low levels of trust in the coaches," he said.

"And that didn't work for a long time.

"We know what hasn't worked in the past and we don't want to be panicked into making the same mistake.

"But we have to weigh up all those things and get the right team on the field."