Six Nations live France vs England: Six Nations result as Ireland win first title since 2015

Follow the latest from the fourth round of the 2018 Six Nations championship

(Getty)

England will look to get their Six Nations championship defence back on track on Saturday evening as they take on France in the latest instalment of “Le Crunch”, looking to make up for their shock defeat by Scotland last time out.

That 25-13 defeat in Edinburgh has put Ireland in pole position for the title, having won all three of their games so far, but with England and Ireland due to meet on the final weekend of the tournament, Eddie Jones’ side at least know that their fate remains in their own hands if they can beat France.

They will have to do so without captain Dylan Hartley though, with the hooker ruled out with a calf injury, meaning that Jamie George is handed his first Six Nations start and Exeter’s Luke Cowan-Dickie is named on the bench. While it is the only change in the pack, England’s back line looks very different as outside stand-in captain Owen Farrell is Ben Te’o, fit-again Elliot Daly and Jonny May, with Anthony Watson moving to full-back and Mike Brown dropped.

France meanwhile make just one change to the side that beat Italy a fortnight ago, with Toulon fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc recalled in place of Lionel Beauxis as Jacques Brunel’s third starting No 10 in four matches

Follow the live action below...

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What time does it start?

France vs England kicks off at the Stade de France at 16:45 GMT (17:45 CET).

Where can I watch it?

The match will be shown live on BBC One from 16:00 GMT.

Teams

France: Hugo Bonneval; Benjamin Fall, Mathieu Bastareaud, Geoffrey Doumayrou, Remy Grosso; Francois Trinh-Duc, Maxime Machenaud; Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado, Rabah Slimani; Paul Gabrillagues, Sebastien Vahaamahina; Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara, Marco Tauleigne.

Replacements: Adrien Pelissie, Dany Priso, Cedate Gomes Sa, Romain Taofifenua, Kelian Galletier, Baptiste Couilloud, Lionel Beauxis, Gael Fickou.

England: Anthony Watson; Jonny May, Ben Te’o, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Danny Care; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Dan Cole; Joe Launchbury, Maro Itoje; Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Nathan Hughes.

Key Points

• France: Bonneval; Fall, Bastareaud, Doumayrou, Grosso; Trinh-Duc, Machenaud; Poirot, Guirado (capt), Slimani, Gabrillagues, Vahaamahina, Lauret, Camara, Tauleigne.
• England: Watson; May, Te'o, Farrell (capt), Daly; Ford, Care; Vunipola, George, Cole, Launchbury, Itoje, Lawes, Robshaw, Hughes.
• Ireland can win the Six Nations today if they beat Scotland and France beat England

[10 March 2018 16:11 · Jack de Menezes]

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's Six Nations live blog, brought to you pitchside at the Stade de France where England take on France.

However, the big news is already in this afternoon, as Ireland's 28-8 victory over Scotland that just this minute finished in Dublin has seen the Six Nations leaders record a bonus point that puts them on the cusp of winning the title TODAY, should England fail to do the same against Les Bleus this evening to maintain a mathematical chance of stopping the Irish next weekend.

With Ireland leading the table by 10 points, only a bonus-point victory will do for England if they are to stand any chance of retaining the title that they've won each year under Eddie Jones.

[10 March 2018 16:21 · Jack de Menezes]

With that first result of the weekend in the bag, here's now what we know:

• Only Ireland and England can win the Six Nations title
• Ireland will win the title today if England fail to beat France with a bonus point
• England will kick off the match 10 points behind Ireland in the table
• The two sides are split by 49 points difference in Ireland's favour
• Ireland can win the Grand Slam next weekend if they beat England

[10 March 2018 16:28 · Jack de Menezes]

Here's how the two sides line up today:France: Hugo Bonneval; Benjamin Fall, Mathieu Bastareaud, Geoffrey Doumayrou, Remy Grosso; Francois Trinh-Duc, Maxime Machenaud; Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado, Rabah Slimani; Paul Gabrillagues, Sebastien Vahaamahina; Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara, Marco Tauleigne.

Replacements: Adrien Pelissie, Dany Priso, Cedate Gomes Sa, Romain Taofifenua, Kelian Galletier, Baptiste Couilloud, Lionel Beauxis, Gael Fickou.

England: Anthony Watson; Jonny May, Ben Te’o, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Danny Care; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Dan Cole; Joe Launchbury, Maro Itoje; Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Nathan Hughes.

Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Marler, Kyle Sinckler, James Haskell, Sam Simmonds, Richard Wigglesworth, Jonathan Joseph, Mike Brown.

[10 March 2018 16:30 · Jack de Menezes]

Eddie Jones did not hold back in talking up the challenge that his side faces today - which has just got a lot harder, by the way, as England have not scored four tries against France in the Six Nations era.

Here's what the head coach had to say:

[10 March 2018 16:31 · Jack de Menezes]

No repeat of the tunnel incident seen at Murrayfield as England head back into the changing rooms alone, with France running through a lengthy practice run before heading in soon after.

[10 March 2018 16:37 · Jack de Menezes]

The players are starting to drip into the tunnel as the fans flood into the Stade de France, with thousands of French Tricolors flying in the air among the partisan home crowd - who interestingly booed Owen Farrell when the teams were just read out.

Not long to go...

[10 March 2018 16:39 · Jack de Menezes]

And here they come! Lead out by Guilhem Guirado and, for the first time, Owen Farrell, here are France and England!

Time for the anthems...

[10 March 2018 16:43 · Jack de Menezes]

Anthems all over, it's time to get the show underway!

[10 March 2018 16:45 · Jack de Menezes]

1 mins: FRANCE KICK OFF AND THE GAME IS UNDERWAY!

[10 March 2018 16:47 · Jack de Menezes]

2 mins: England seal the kick-off and give possession away with a Care box kick, and immediately France break! Tauleigne breaks through the English line and floats a long pass out to Grosso, but the pass to the No 8 is forwards and we come back for an English scrum on the French 10m. A let-off for the visitors.