What time is kick-off and what TV channel is it on?

England face last year’s Grand Slam winners France at Twickenham in the penultimate round of the Six Nations.

Both sides have one loss and two wins to their name ahead of the clash and will each still be harbouring outside hopes of ending the Six Nations as winners.

England beat Wales in Cardiff in their last match, while France came out on top of a exciting clash with Scotland in Paris.

When and where is

England will face France at Twickenham Stadium in London on Saturday, March 11. The match will kick off at 4.45pm GMT.

The other fixtures that weekend are Italy v Wales in a battle to avoid the wooden spoon at 2.15pm on the Saturday, and Scotland v Ireland at 3pm on Sunday, March 12.

What TV channel is

The match will be broadcast live on both ITV1 and BBC One.

Who is the referee?

Kiwi Ben O’Keeffe will take charge of England v France – his first and only appointment as referee of the Six Nations.

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Referee 1: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
TMO: Brett Cronan (UK)

Latest team news

England

George Ford and Marcus Smith will go head to head for a place in Steve Borthwick’s England squadwith the Harlequins fly-half recalled by the head coach to prepare for the challenge of France on Saturday.

Borthwick, whose England side sit in third place in the Six Nations table after having won two and lost one so far in the championship, has named a 36-man squad to prepare for the arrival of title hopefuls France at Twickenham next weekend.

Telegraph Sport exclusively revealed last week that the England head coach had challenged Smith to seize control of the No 10 jersey by starring for Harlequins in their match against Exeter at Twickenham. The fly-half was named man of the match as Quins recorded a resounding Premiership victory over the Chiefs and is included alongside Ford and captain Owen Farrell as the fly-half options in Borthwick’s squad.

Alongside that trio in the midfield, Manu Tuilagi receives a full recall after training with the squad at Brighton College last week. The Sale centre’s ban for a red card on club duty has now expired.

Story continues

Cadan Murley and Joe Marchant, who both started in Quins’ win over the Chiefs, are both included, while Max Malins, who was omitted from last week’s training squad due to injury after having started all three of England’s matches so far, has sufficiently recovered from an ankle issue to receive a full recall to Borthwick’s preparation for France.

Ollie Hassell-Collins, who started alongside Malins on the wing against Scotland and Italy before missing the Welsh victory due to injury, has not been recalled despite a try-scoring return to action in London Irish’s win in Newcastle.

After impressing on club duty for Leicester – and with Bath’s Will Stuart suffering a head injury in the same match –tighthead Joe Heyes has been included alongside incumbents Kyle Sinckler and fellow Tiger Dan Cole. Tom Dunn, Bath’s skipper in the Welford Road defeat, will occupy the third-choice hooker spot this week at Pennyhill Park.

Ben Youngs also played a leading role in Leicester’s Premiership victory, and will put pressure on club mate Jack van Poortvliet and Northampton’s Alex Mitchell at for a place in the squad at scrum-half to take on Les Bleus.

Jack Willis, a shining light for England on the openside, has been included despite being named on the bench for Toulouse against Racing 92, a match which kicked off at 9pm in Paris on Sunday night.

France, who currently sit one place behind England in the championship on points difference, will be without their two first-choice tightheads – Uini Atonio and Mahomed Haouas – due to suspension. Bordeaux prop Sipili Falatea is in line to start for Les Bleus having come off the bench in the first three matches of the Six Nations.

Jonathan Danty, an integral part of France’s 2022 Grand Slam triumph, has also been recalled despite not having made an international appearance this year due to injury.

Fabien Galthié’s side have not won at Twickenham in the Six Nations since 2005 and need a victory to keep their championship hopes alive.

England sqaud in full

Forwards: O Chessum, D Cole, B Curry, A Dombrandt, T Dunn, B Earl, E Genge, J George, J Heyes, N Isiekwe, M Itoje, C Lawes, L Ludlam, D Ribbans, B Rodd, S Simmonds, K Sinckler, M Vunipola, J Walker, J Willis.

Backs: H Arundell, O Farrell, T Freeman, G Ford, O Lawrence, M Malins, J Marchant, A Mitchell, C Murley, H Slade, M Smith, F Steward, M Tuilagi, J van Poortvliet, A Watson, B Youngs.

France

France will be without flanker Anthony Jelonch for the trip to Twickenham after the 26-year-old ruptured his knee ligament in the win over Scotland in Paris.

The visitors are also likely to be without prop Mohamed Haouas, who was sent off for a shoulder charge on Scotland scrum-half Ben White.

What happened in this fixture in 2022?

France beat England 25-13 in their final game of last year’s Six Nations to secure a Grand Slam in front of their home fans in Paris.

Gael Fickou, Francois Cros and man-of-the-match Antoine Dupont all crossed for the hosts, who proved too much for England despite a try from Freddie Steward.

The Six Nations 2023 table – as it stands

Best of the latest odds

• England: 11/10

• France: 8/9

• Draw: 28/1