Despite England's mixed form thus far, The Times' David Hands believes France will still be wary of their old rivals this evening.
"There is no rational argument against France claiming their ninth grand slam in Paris this evening. Their opponents lost their captain yesterday, have dropped the world’s leading international points-scorer, Jonny Wilkinson, and have, to all intents and purposes, lost their way.
"Yet they will be wary of England, purely because they are England — the country that overturned their hopes of glory in 1991 (twice), in 2003 and, on their own turf, in the 2007 World Cup. Nor is this the England side that have meandered through the tournament after opening with an encouraging win over Wales: form and injury have forced seven changes since last week’s draw with Scotland. Who knows how effervescent the new mixture will be?"
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