Lancaster has made three changes to his starting XV following the 12-6 victory in Ireland last time out, bringing in Manu Tuilagi, Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes at the expense of Billy Twelvetrees, Tom Youngs and James Haskell.

England are the only side left capable of a Grand Slam in this season's championship, and Lancaster knows that to do that his team will have to get on top in the set-piece, win the battle for the gainline and show their stamina after the break.

He said: "There are three key components to this game. One is the set-piece, one is winning the gainline battle and one is how the game unfolds in the second half, particularly in the last 20 minutes.

"I think Manu gives us a good gainline option either through him or using him as a decoy as you have got Brad obviously. And as we saw against New Zealand they work well together, particularly in attack but also defensively.

"Dylan has been patient and sometimes when you make selections there are players sat on the sidelines wanting to prove a point and when you trust them it is about getting the right time to put them in."

Lancaster's French counterpart Philippe Saint-Andre has freshened up his squad following defeats to Italy and Wales in their first two games.

Toulouse wing Vincent Clerc, who has been missing though injury, Yannick Nyanga, Thomas Domingo, Christophe Samson and Antonie Claassen have been called into his squad with only the latter not heading straight into the starting lineup.

In total Saint-Andre has made eight changes, bringing in half-back pairing Morgan Parra and François Trinh-Duc, and moving Wesley Fofana back into the centres to accommodate Clerc.

And the former French captain is urging his squad to restore some pride at Twickenham, a ground where they have not won since a 2007 World Cup warmup game.

"There should be no excuses," he said. "We are in a magical competition. It is what you dream about being involved in as a player, and it is why I wanted to play rugby.

"We were flying in November, but now it's very tough. We are bottom of the table, but we have to recover our precision and our spirit and not give up."