Les Bleus were far from impressive in their opening match of the tournament last weekend when they were pushed all the way by Scotland before snatching a late 16-9 victory at the Stade de France.

But at least the defending Six Nations champions started with a win - Andy Robinsons England were humbled by Wales 11-9 in a massive disappointing and largely disjointed performance.

England will be delighted to get back to Twickenham, where they boast a formidable record, and Laporte is more than aware of the threat posed by the wobbling world champions.

They are rebuilding their team but they have huge potential thanks to their quality forwards and their capacity to dominate, said Laporte at Wednesdays press conference in Marcoussis.

We are expecting a huge fight because they will be eager to bounce back after losing to Wales.

This is definitely not going to be easy for us.

In announcing his starting line-up for Sundays clash, Laporte made five changes to the side who struggled to beat the Scots.

Perpignan prop Nicolas Mas, back in the national fold for the first time since June 2003, replaces shoulder-injury victim Pieter de Villiers, while Sale hooker Sebastien Bruno will start for the first time after a replacement for the out-of-sorts William Servat.

Flanker Serge Betsen is named in the starting line-up after shaking off a right thigh injury, but he could still miss out should he be banned for an incident that occurred during Biarritzs European Cup clash with Wasps.

If Betsen is suspended by the ERC - the decision will be made on Wednesday afternoon in Glasgow after the player's hearing - Laporte will replace him with Yannick Nyanga and Remy Martin will take his place on the bench.

The other two changes see scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili and winger Jimmy Marlu brought into the side.

Yachvili will start instead of Pierre Mignoni and will be the kicker at Twickenham, while Marlu replaces Aurelien Rougerie who sustained a facial injury during the Scotland match.

Team manager Jo Maso and Laporte both stressed the need to rotate the team, which is something they failed to do in the November Tests when they lost to both Argentina and New Zealand.

We made changes to boost the players' spirits, not to punish them, explained Laporte.

We need to enlarge the group so we know who to rely on.