Barely four months after knocking out the host nation in a tense World Cup semi-final, England head back to Stade de France with their RBS 6 Nations title ambitions on the line.

After suffering a first Twickenham defeat against Wales for 20 years, then struggling past Italy 23-19 in Rome, England need to raise the stakes.

Head coach Brian Ashton has refused to panic in the wake of such a stuttering start, making just three changes from the Italy game, with scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth handed his full Test debut and props Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery declared fit to resume.

Another poor performance though, and Ashton's patience could expire ahead of England's appointment with Scotland on March 8.

England have not beaten France away from home in the RBS 6 Nations since February, 2000, and Les Bleus will start as favourites, despite new coach Marc Lievremont fielding a rookie half-back combination of Francois Trinh-Duc and Morgan Parra.

As ever, the contest will be won and lost up-front, but England should fancy their chances there, especially through the considerable scrummaging presence of Sheridan, Vickery and hooker Mark Regan.

It is what England then do with the ball that matters, because playing France in Paris on the back foot usually means only one result - defeat.