RWC 2nd Warm Up Match - France v England 22-8-15

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The 'House of Lancaster' has gone for Luther Burrell and Jonathan Joseph at centre, Danny Cipriani and Billy Twelvetrees on the bench and back in on the Youngs brothers.   I must admit to preferring Youngs to Care at the moment, Danny seems to take an age to get the ball out. 

Back also is the Captain Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown one of my favourites, really good to see him back in the line up.  All in all it looks like a very strong England side and I am sure the French will be wanting to have a piece of them.  Although this another warm up match prior to the Rugby World Cup, England will want to win this match to set down a huge marker.  So 'Good Luck' to all the players and management, the fans are all behind you.  

This is what the England Coach had to say:- “Having reviewed last Saturday there were a lot of things we were pleased with considering it was the first game,” Lancaster said.  

“There is now an opportunity for those not involved or who didn’t get much opportunity from the bench to put a marker down and build on that performance.”  “France will be even stronger at home and this will be a big test but these guys have been working hard for the opportunity and are desperate to go out and perform,” Lancaster continued.

“I’m delighted for Jamie George who hopefully gets his first cap and also Joe Launchbury, who has worked tirelessly and patiently to get back to fitness.   “It is a big couple of weeks ahead for all the 39-man squad with the game this weekend and some competitive training sessions to come this week and next as we look to narrow down the squad ahead of the World Cup.”

Not to be outdone French Coach Philippe Saint-Andre has made twelve changes, I suppose this is what we have to expect with warm up matches testing out all the personnel available. So....  Louis Picamoles keeps his place at eight, while fullback Scott Spedding and second-row Yoann Maestri are also retained.  Second row Pascal Pape returns  as Captain in the absence of injured skipper Thierry Dusautoir.  Toulon flyhalf Frederic Michalak will start alongside club mate scrumhalf Sebastien Tillous-Borde, while Mathieu Bastareaud will partner Wesley Fofana in Les Bleus midfield.

France:- Scott Spedding (Bayonne); Yoann Huget (Toulouse); Mathieu Bastareaud (Toulon) ; Wesley Fofana (Clermont); Noa Nakaitaci (Clermont); Frederic Michalak (Toulon); Sebastien Tillous-Borde (Toulon); Louis Picamoles (Toulouse); Bernard Le Roux (Racing Metro); Damien Chouly (Clermont); Yoann Maestri (Toulouse); Pascal Pape (Stade Français); Rabah Slimani (Stade Français); Guilhem Guirado (Toulon); Eddy Ben Arous (Racing Metro).

Replacements: Benjamin Kayser (Clermont); Vincent Debaty (Clermont); Uini Atonio (La Rochelle); Alexandre Flanquart (Stade Francais); Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse); Rory Kockott (Castres); Remi Tales (Castres) Gael Fickou (Toulouse).

England: M Brown (Harlequins); J Nowell (Exeter), J Joseph (Bath), L Burrell (Northampton), J May (Gloucester); G Ford (Bath), B Youngs (Leicester); J Marler (Harlequins), T Youngs (Leicester), D Cole (Leicester); J Launchbury (Wasps), C Lawes (Northampton); J Haskell (Wasps), Chris Robshaw (capt, Harlequins), Billy Vunipola (Saracens).

Replacements: Jamie George (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath), Dave Attwood (Bath), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Danny Cipriani (Sale), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester)