France vs England Prediction: French to power on

Our Rugby tipster Alex Cox is back with his France vs England Prediction and full match preview, which is live on ITV at 20:00.

‘Le Crunch’ will be the closing ceremony of the 2024 Six Nations and it’s hard to look past the French to right the wrongs of the Italy draw a few weeks ago.

Both of these sides come into their final 6 Nations clash off the back of much-needed wins. France had been underwhelming but answered a few critics in Cardiff, whilst England shocked the rugby world and pulled off an unexpected win vs Ireland. I can hold my hands up and say I did not see that England performance coming, but they fully deserved the win vs Ireland.

The player changes made last week seemed to give the French the firepower they needed, but we also witnessed some lackluster defence, allowing Wales to score some easily avoidable tries. Galthie will be desperate to ensure the French public forget about the 13-13 draw vs Italy and end the 6 Nations on a positive performance against their rivals across the Channel.

England were both industrious in defence and ambitious in attack vs Ireland, and certainly showed they are capable of playing free-flowing rugby. The test for England is to replicate that performance and make the level they reached a minimum standard as opposed to a one-off performance. They will be pushed hard by a motivated French side and I think they’ll fade away in the second half, leading to a French victory.

Team news

France

Fabie Galthie clearly liked what he saw from his squad in Cardiff last weekend as he has named an entirely unchanged 23-man squad. That means Baille, Marchand and Antonio are the front-row trio once again, with the mammoth Meafou and Flament in the second-row.

Cros and Ollivon continue on the flanks and the exception Aldritt will command things from the back of the scrum once again.

Last week’s debutant and Man of the match, Le Garrec, started his Test career with a bang and he’ll be looking to continue the tempo he was able to orchestrate last week. Ramos continues at Fly-half, with the youngster Depoortere alongside Fickou in the midfield. The French back-three have been relatively quiet so far this Tournament, however they burst into life last weekend and Penaud, Bielle-Biarrey and Barre will be looking for more of the same vs England.

England

Unsurprisingly, Borthwick has opted to not tinker with his squad too much, but has been forced into a few changes to the 23, after a couple of injuries were picked up vs Ireland. The pack is unchanged though, with Genge, George and Cole combining up-front. Itoje and enforcer Martin are in the second-row, with Chessum, Underhill and Earl the back-row trio once again.

Borthwick will need an impact from his reserve forwards this week considering the impact the French bench made last week and he’s had to re-call Roots to cover the injured Cunningham-South.

Mitchell and Ford remain as the half-backs, with Marcus Smith once again waiting patiently on the bench. Lawrence and Slade are the midfield pairing, with Freeman on the right-wing and Furbank at Full-back. The only change to the starting XV is Daly off the bench onto the left-ring to replace Feyi-Waboso after he was concussed last week. The other notable inclusion on the bench is the re-introduction of Manu Tuilagi.

France -6 @ 5/6

Although I am sure England would love to close out their 6 Nations with another scalp, I fear they won’t be able to replicate the levels of emotion, physicality and tenacity they displayed at Twickenham.

Ultimately, I think the French high-tempo and power game will be too strong for an England side that has arguably done enough with that Ireland win to keep their fans happy for now.