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Wed 29 Jan 2014 | 05:14
O2 Inside Line - Season 4 Episode 4

5
Comments

Alex Payne and O2 Inside Line are back to look ahead to the start of the Six Nations with France vs England on Saturday. Both teams have now named their teams, which include uncapped players for both sides, including at flyhalf for France.*

England included youngsters George Ford, Jack Nowell, Luther Burrell and Anthony Watson in their squad, who according to coach Stuart Lancaster, have impressed at club level and in training.

"We are excited about the players we are taking to Paris and what a great place to open our RBS 6 Nations campaign against a French team who will be massively motivated, especially after the last two games between us," Lancaster said.

In this week's O2 Inside Line fans get an exclusive look into life in the England camp, with Dylan Hartley and Brad Barritt starting off with their Player Analysis and their views on the French team.

Some of the funniest things to happen on a rugby pitch are then discussed, we see some of the team training and then operations manager Tom Stokes runs through what his job entails.

*Updated: Both teams have now been named

England team:
Mike Brown, Jack Nowell, Luther Burrell, Billy Twelvetrees, Jonny May, Owen Farrell,  Danny Care, Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw, Billy Vunipola Replacements Tom Youngs, Mako Vunipola, Henry Thomas, Dave Attwood, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson, Brad Barritt, Alex Goode

France squad:
Brice Dulin, Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Maxime Medard, Jules Plisson, Jean-Marc Doussain, Thomas Domingo, Benjamin Kayser, Nicolas Mas, Alexandre Flanquart, Pascal Pape, Yannick Nyanga, Bernard Le Roux, Louis Picamoles
Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski, Yannick Forestier, Rabah Slimani, Yoann Maestri, Antoie Burban, Damien Chouly, Maxime Machenaud, Gael Fickou

What are you predictions for France vs England this weekend? (Sat, 18:00 Paris time)

Posted By: Grant Constable

5 Comments

  • stroudos
    6:06 PM 30/01/2014

    OK, now that we have the final line-ups, I must say there are some mouth-watering individual contests.

    The one that I'm most excited about is Burrell v The Bastard - the seismographs at the Paris earthquake monitoring station are going to kick into action when these two collide. Thing is they're not bad rugby players either.

    Billy Twelvetrees is going to have a hell of a task keeping Fofana quiet! But 36 and Burrell is exactly the centre pairing I would have picked, so I really hope he comes through what will be a very tough examination. Better still he gets to express a bit of his own creativity too.

    Same with the half-backs. Care is definitely the right scrumhalf choice on current form.

    England's pack looks big, nasty and actually pretty mobile - will be good to see the forwards having a bit of rumble and putting some big carries in. This will be absolutely crucial if England are going to have any chance of taking the game to France.

    Front row battle will be fascinating. On paper I think they look incredibly even. (Then again I probably ought not to comment, considering I nearly always have two digits on the back of my shirt).

    Oh yeah, and Billy Vunipola v Louis Picamoles is another head-to-head tussle that gets the pulse rate racing.

    Bench looks good too - sorry to ask, but can someone enlighten me on Henry Thomas, haven't seen his name before, is he a prop?


    @Frenchie or indeed any other Frenchies on here - any further insight on the new guys?
    Palisson, any relation of the wing Alexis? Is he any good? (Notwithstanding the inexperience).
    Afraid I haven't come across Bernard Le Roux, (can he fill Dusautoir's massive boots?).

    I agree with you (Frenchie) on the back line - very solid indeed, good variety of size, speed, skill and vastly more experienced that England's.

  • eddie-g
    5:43 PM 30/01/2014

    @ Frenchie - They gave NZ more than a decent game, and against SA, they had a very poor start which cost them. But I thought they played some tough rugby in both games, certainly they weren't bad performances against the two best teams in the world, even though they ended up being losses.

    The backlines in this game are a case of opposites - England have more experienced half-backs, but France are much more experienced 11-15... and you guys must like your chances running at that England midfield. But agree with you that how France cope without Dusautoir could be the key, England have the players to be a real menace at the breakdown.

  • stroudos
    1:44 PM 30/01/2014

    Do the rest of the France squad still despise him? Has been quite a divisive influence in the past, hopefully he can bring that undermining anti-camaraderie to the team again.

  • 11:38 PM 29/01/2014

    It's going to be a brilliant game, England have a great pack, and hopefully the backs will step up to the mark. France will play their heart out

  • eddie-g
    9:25 PM 29/01/2014

    Tales is injured, and Trin-Duc is in.

    French squad looks stronger, they played well in the autumn, I'd say they should win... but would not be at all surprised if they find a way to mess it up.

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