And the Bath fly-half has vowed to make the most of his opportunity after being drafted in as Paul Graysons replacement.

Grayson failed a fitness test on Tuesday night on the left calf muscle strain which also meant he missed Englands 31-21 victory over Wales five days ago. He was originally injured during an England training session early last week.

England head coach Sir Clive Woodward originally named Grayson in the starting XV for Paris, dropping Barkley completely, despite his 16-point performance against Wales.

But in a rapid turnaround of fortunes, 22-year-old Barkley is now back in the team and will win a fifth England cap.

Clive told me yesterday (Tuesday) that there was every chance I would be starting, said Barkley.

Im disappointed for Paul, but delighted to be starting, especially with the advantage of having plenty of time to prepare for the match, where I hope to improve further on my performance last Saturday.

Woodward added: Paul has made encouraging progress following the injury last week, but we always knew the timescale was going to be very tight for him to achieve full fitness for this Saturdays game in Paris.

Unlike last week, its important we make the change early to allow Olly the maximum time to prepare.

Olly played very well in his first major Test match at the weekend, and we are very excited about seeing him step up to the plate once again against France on Saturday night, hence the early decision.

The England squad arrive in Paris on Wednesday, continuing preparations for Saturdays 80,000 sell-out encounter.

England must win by a minimum seven-point margin - and stay ahead of France on overall try-count - to retain their RBS 6 Nations crown.

But France, beaten by England in the World Cup semi-finals last November, are one win away from achieving a Grand Slam, and will go into the game as favourites.