England look to wiggle past France

Richard Wigglesworth has been named in England's starting XV to face France on Saturday night. Andy Gomarsall has dropped out of the squad altogether and as a result Paul Hodgson takes his place on the bench as replacement scrum-half.

The game against Les Bleus is a re-match of the World Cup Semi-Final which was also an 8pm kick off at the Stade de France.

Brian Ashton will be hoping his team can come up with the same result, but to do this they will have to produce a more consistent 80 minutes of rugby than they have done recently.

England's front row has been strengthened by the return of Phil Vickery and more notably Andrew Sheridan, who has been the powerhouse of the front five for the past 18 months.

Ian Balshaw has remarkably kept his place in the side with Matthew Tait still on the sideline. The only other change to the squad that edged past Italy two weeks ago sees Tom Croft replace Luke Narraway as back row cover on the bench.

Gallic Guile

The French team has once again been given a shake up by new coach Marc Lievremont, although his hand has also been forced by a number of injuries.Vainikolo for Gloucester

The success of the new half back pairing of Morgan Parra, who makes his first Test start, and Francois Trinh-Duc, could prove pivotal to the outcome of the game.

If the English pack can provide a suitable platform then Wilkinson should be able to control the game.

Hopefully this will allow Paul Sackey and Lesley Vainikolo to be brought into the game more often and their explosive attacking potency can be fully exploited.
Welsh Wizardry

In the weekend's other games, Wales should have no problems seeing off Italy at the Millennium Stadium, while the Ireland v Scotland encounter is intriguingly balanced.

Warren Gatland has made an impressive start to his tenure of the Welsh team and his side should easily see of the challenge of the Italians.

Although England managed to make them look like world beaters a couple of weeks ago, the reality is Italy are still looking like wooden spoon favourites.

Problems At Number 10

Mike Blair will captain the Scots from behind the scrum as Jason White has failed to recover from concussion.

Chris Paterson has been brought into play alongside Blair at 10 while Dan Parks drops to the bench.In the back row Gloucester player, Alasdair Strokosch, comes in at six. Other changes include the return of Rory Lamont and Simon Webster from injury.

Irish Woe

The Irish have made two changes to their team, Tommy Bowe replaces Geordan Murphy and Ireland's most-capped player Malcolm O'Kelly is dropped for Mick O'Driscoll.

Ireland nearly made a remarkable comeback against France in the last round but a poor performance against Italy and a woeful World Cup campaign will still be fresh in the mind.

Home advantage might see the Irish through but Scotland desperately need to solve their issues in the number 10 spot if they are to make an impact on the International scene.

Predictions:

England to beat France by 8
Wales to beat Italy by 20
Scotland and Ireland to draw