But Englands bid for a first victory over Les Bleus since the 2003 World Cup semi-final in Sydney has suffered a triple injury setback after captain Phil Vickery (concussion), fly-half Jonny Wilkinson (hamstring) and centre Andy Farrell (back) were all ruled out.

A combination of fitness blows - and a record 43-13 RBS 6 Nations defeat against Ireland 10 days ago - has prompted Ashton to make 11 changes, including three positional switches, following the Dublin debacle.

England still have an outside chance of landing the RBS 6 Nations title, yet defeat against France would condemn a third successive championship campaign to also-ran status, and Ashton has pulled no punches ahead of a demanding Twickenham challenge.

He said: We need to start climbing the ladder again.

I said to the players yesterday that we are now in the second division of world rugby, and we need to get back into division one. We will be playing a division one side on Sunday.

Rugby players are pretty resilient guys. We didnt have a great day at the office in Dublin, and there were a lot of reasons for that, but we have got to try to bounce back.
The performance in Dublin wasnt acceptable at international level.

Only centre Mike Tindall, scrum-half Harry Ellis, hooker George Chuter and flanker Joe Worsley remain in their starting positions from Croke Park.

Half of the pack demolished by a rampant Irish eight pay an inevitable price, with Perry Freshwater, Louis Deacon, Danny Grewcock and Magnus Lund all dropped.

Deacon and Lund are demoted to the bench, but prop Freshwater and lock Grewcock disappear completely, with Tim Payne, Julian White, Tom Palmer, Tom Rees and Nick Easter gaining starts up front.

The eye-catching selection though is number eight Martin Corrys move to lock, where he will forge a new second-row partnership alongside Palmer.

Corry has made one previous appearance at lock for England - the 2003 World Cup pool game against Uruguay in Brisbane - while it is three years since he started a game at any level in that position.

Behind the scrum, 21-year-old Toby Flood gains a first Test start instead of his infinitely more celebrated Newcastle colleague Wilkinson, whose strained right hamstring means he is unavailable for the 31st out of 34 Tests since his drop-goal saw England crowned world champions.

And with Farrell still being treated for lower back pain, 35-year-old London Irish back Mike Catt returns in midfield.

Catt, also appointed skipper in the absence of Wasps star Vickery, wins a 68th cap, but it will be his first RBS 6 Nations start since 2001. He also becomes the oldest back to captain England.

Elsewhere, Josh Lewsey moves from wing to full-back instead of shoulder injury victim Olly Morgan, with Jason Robinson back on the left wing after shaking off a neck complaint that sidelined him in Dublin.

Harlequins prospect David Strettle, Englands one shining light on a try-scoring Dublin debut, is deservedly retained, but swaps to the number 14 shirt.