| Guinness Six Nations – France v England |
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| Campus: Stade de France Date: Saturday, March 19 Kick off: 20:00 GMT |
| Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. |
The Six Nations final with France on Saturday is a chance for England to show they can match the best in the world, says striker Sam Simmonds.
Eddie Jones’s side travel to Paris hoping to prevent France from sealing a Grand Slam and, in the process, salvage another disappointing Six Nations campaign.
“They are probably the best team in the world,” the 27-year-old Exeter defender told BBC Sport.
“It’s an opportunity to show who we are.”
Jones has named a 28-man group to travel to Paris, with flanker Max Malins out despite starting all four of England’s matches so far in the championship.
Wing pair Louis Lynagh and Harlequins center Luke Northmore have been included, as has Wasps tyro Alfie Barbeary, while Nic Dolly has replaced Jamie Blamire as Jamie George’s backup at hooker.
With Tom Curry ruled out, Sam Underhill is in contention to start at wide-back, although Simmonds could switch to the number seven jersey to accommodate Alex Dombrant at number eight.
England will confirm their squad of 23 for the matchday on Thursday night.
‘We weren’t good enough to win’
England battled hard with 14 men against Ireland in their last match before falling to a tough 32-15 loss at Twickenham.
“Pride is a good word but in the end we didn’t win, we weren’t good enough to win,” added British and Irish Lions striker Simmonds.
“We need to recharge our batteries now, emotionally and physically, for what is going to be a great game in Paris.”
Another defeat for England would mean they have managed just two wins in the campaign for a second successive championship.
Simmonds is well aware of the consequences of failure at the Stade de France, where New Zealand they were beaten 40-25 in the fall.
“Obviously we want to win, we wanted to win every game we’ve played,” he added.
“We’ve talked this week about [this being] an opportunity, an opportunity to go to France and prevent them from winning a Grand Slam in their stadium.
“It is also an opportunity for us to show that we are a team that can take on the best.
“All the talk will be about France, but hopefully we can go there and do some work. Being the underdogs in this situation, and then going out there and being physical, which we’ve done in patches this tournament, is pretty exciting.”
england team
Forward: Alfie Barbeary, Ollie Chessum, Nic Dolly, Alex Dombrandt, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Maro Itoje, Nick Isiekwe, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Joe Marler, Sam Simmonds, Kyle Sinckler, Will Stuart, Sam Underhill.
Backs: Elliot Daly, George Ford, George Furbank, Louis Lynagh, Joe Marchant, Luke Northmore, Jack Nowell, Harry Randall, Henry Slade, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Ben Youngs.
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