France vs England Six Nations: What time does it start, what channel is it on, where can I watch it?
A look ahead to the Six Nations fixture at the Stade de France, 8pm kick off, BBC1
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The final match of the Six Nations season is the Grand Slam decider as England, the newly crowned champions, take on the battered French.
It’s a big game for...
Dylan Hartley. The England captain is making his 70th appearance this weekend and is on the verge of leading his team to their first Grand Slam since 2003. He has already captained the squad to the trophy and the reminders of his previous indiscretions have been pushed aside for now.
Teams...
France: 15-Scott Spedding, 14-Wesley Fofana, 13-Gael Fickou, 12-Maxime Mermoz, 11-Virimi Vakatawa, 10-Francois Trinh-Duc, 9-Maxime Machenaud; 1-Jefferson Poirot, 2-Guilhem Guirado (captain), 3-Rabah Slimani, 4-Alexandre Flanquart, 5-Yoann Maestri, 6-Damien Chouly, 7-Bernard Le Roux, 8-Loann Goujon
Replacements: 16-Camille Chat, 17-Uini Atonio, 18-Xavier Chiocci, 19-Paul Jedrasiak, 20-Wenceslas Lauret, 21-Sebastien Bezy, 22-Jules Plisson, 23-Maxime Medard
England: 15-Mike Brown, 14-Anthony Watson, 13-Jonathan Joseph, 12-Owen Farrell, 11-Jack Nowell,10-George Ford, 9-Danny Care; 1-Mako Vunipola, 2-Dylan Hartley (captain), 3-Dan Cole, 4-Maro Itoje, 5-George Kruis, 6-Chris Robshaw, 7-James Haskell, 8-Billy Vunipola
Replacements: 16-Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17-Joe Marler, 18-Kieran Brookes, 19-Joe Launchbury, 20-Jack Clifford, 21-Ben Youngs, 22-Manu Tuilagi, 23-Elliot Daly.
Captain Comparison...
Name Guilhem Guirado Dylan Hartley
Position Hooker Hooker
Club Toulon Northampton Saints
Caps (As captain) 42 (4) 70 (5)
Points scored 15 5
Remember when...
France took the win from under England’s nose. In 2014, the opening round of matches saw England take pressure from an early pair of tries by Huget. Brown and Burrell scored tries either side of the half-time break, and kicks at goal by Farrell, Goode and Care gave England the lead in the last ten minutes. A last minute try by Fickou knocked the wind out of the England sails and ended any Grand Slam hopes before they had even begun for England.
Best stat...
11. In 101 games, the longest losing streak the French have ever had is 11 games between 1907 and 1921. Four times during the streak did the French fail to score against England. The losing streak ended with an 11-all draw at Twickenham in 1922.
Up and coming...
Sébastien Bézy: The 24-year-old scrum-half came onto the scene in 2011 in the France U20’s squad. He went on to make two appearances in that year's U20’s Six Nations. He was picked up for the 2012 season for Toulouse, going on to make 74 appearances to date, scoring 218 points. His four senior caps have all come in this year’s Six Nations, two as full starts against France and Ireland.
Past three-meetings...
France 25 (Huget) vs England 20 (Cipriani, Joseph) World Cup Warm up August 2015
England 19 (Watson (2), May) vs France 14 (Ouedraogo) World Cup Warm up August 2015
England 55 (Watson, Youngs (2), Ford, B Vunipola, Nowell (2)) vs France 35 (Tillous-Borde, Nakataitaci, Mermoz, Debaty, Kayser) Six Nations March 2015
Form guide...
France: LLWWLL
England: WWWWWL
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments