England v France, Six Nations 2023: 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 in an exciting clash with Scotland in Paris.
When and where is England v France?
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 England v France on?
The match will be broadcast live on ITV1. The radio coverage is on BBC Radio 5 Live.
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 (RA)
Latest team news
England
Marcus Smith has been entrusted with the fly-half duties for England's match with with France after Steve Borthwick made dropped captain Owen Farrell.
Farrell has been demoted to the bench for the first time since 2015 for Saturday's Twickenham showdown with the Grand Slam champions.
Ellis Genge is named captain for the first time in place of Farrell but there are no further changes to the starting XV that toppled Wales in round three.
"The players selected to face our visitors are again a reflection of what I see to be the right balance of personnel for the challenge we face in this game," England head coach Borthwick said.
"Marcus Smith starts at fly-half and Dave Ribbans returns to the match day 23. Congratulations to Ellis Genge who will captain the side for the first time."
Smith started the tournament in the No 10 against Scotland but then had to settle for cameo roles off the bench against Italy and Wales, with his game time in Cardiff limited to just 14 seconds.
The 24-year-old was released to play for Harlequins last weekend and having delivered a classy man of the match display against Exeter, now finds himself given the task of launching England's backline.
Farrell's form so far in the Six Nations has been reasonable enough, but his success ratio off the kicking tee reads an unacceptable 47 per cent.
However, Borthwick was still expected to keep faith with England's talisman and has once again shown his ruthless streak by freezing him out of the starting XV.
Farrell follows Manu Tuilagi and Ben Youngs among the big names jettisoned by Borthwick since he replaced Eddie Jones as head coach in December.
England's starting XV: F Steward; M Malins, H Slade, O Lawrence, A Watson; M Smith, J van Poortvliet; E Genge (capt), J George, K Sinckler, M Itoje, O Chessum, L Ludlam, J Willis, A Dombrandt.
Replacements: J Walker, M Vunipola, D Cole, D Ribbans, B Curry, A Mitchell, O Farrell, H Arundell.
France
Jonathan Danty, the France centre, will make his first international appearance of this year's Six Nations as one of three changes to Fabien Galthié's starting XV.
The return of Danty, who has been sidelined with a knee injury sustained in La Rochelle's January win over Perpignan, is a significant boost to France. Yoram Moefana, the Bordeaux centre who has started in all three of France's matches so far, drops to the bench in place of the injured Matthieu Jalibert.
As with France's opening three matches, Sipili Falatea, the Bordeaux prop, will remain on the bench on Saturday, with Toulouse's Dorian Aldegheri becoming the third different starting tighthead that Galthié has used this championship. Both Uini Atonio and Mohamed Haouas are serving suspensions after incidents in the Ireland and Scotland matches respectively.
In place of flanker Anthony Jelonch, who is a World Cup doubt after departing France's victory over Scotland with a ruptured cruciate ligament, François Cros starts at blindside. Cros played nearly an hour after replacing Jelonch in the Scottish win.
Eight of the starting French XV play their club rugby for Toulouse.
On the bench, Maxime Lucu returns from injury to replace scrum-half Baptiste Couilloud, while Melvyn Jaminet will wear the 23 shirt with France opting for a five-three split. In the absence of Jalibert – who dropped out of France training with an ankle injury this week – fly-half cover will be provided by starting full-back Thomas Ramos, but Jaminet and captain Antoine Dupont have both featured at No 10 sporadically for their club, Toulouse.
There is a return after injury, too, for Peato Mauvaka, the Toulouse hooker who has established himself as first-choice deputy behind club mate Julien Marchand.
France starting XV: T Ramos; D Penaud, G Fickou, J Danty, E Dumortier; R Ntamack, A Dupont (capt); C Baille, J Marchand, D Aldegheri, T Flament, P Willemse, F Cros, C Ollivon, G Alldritt.
Replacements: P Mauvaka, R Wardi, S Falatea, R Taofifenua, S Macalou, M Lucu, Y Moefana, M Jaminet.
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.
Gaël Fickou, Cros and man-of-the-match 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: 5/4
Draw: 22/1
France: 11/13
Odds correct as of March 10
