He had been expected to play a prominent role for England during this year’s RBS 6 Nations but interim boss Stuart Lancaster has thus far opted to play Strettle and Chris Ashton on the wing against Scotland, Italy and Wales.

Strettle suffered a chest injury earlier in the tournament and despite Lancaster pinning his hopes on the Saracens man recovering in time to face France in Paris – the winger has been forced to withdraw at the last minute.

Lancaster insists the appearance of Sharples on the wing will not affect England’s backline play, which has so far only produced two chargedown tries for Charlie Hodgson in this year’s tournament, as the Gloucester man has been involved heavily in training at the Pennyhill Park Hotel this week.

"Charlie's trained with us throughout the tournament so he has spent a lot of time with the other guys," said Lancaster

Before Strettle's sternum injury, which flared up again during training this week, put paid to his chances of playing in Paris, England had named an unchanged starting XV for the game against the unbeaten French.