England coach Brian Ashton has made key changes to his side for the trip to France © Getty Images

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Matches: France 13 - 24 England

Players/Officials: Paul Sackey

England boss Brian Ashton is relishing the "great challenge" of sending his team into battle against RBS 6 Nations title favourites France. England head back to Paris later this week, four months after knocking out the host nation in a tense World Cup semi-final.

Ashton parades seven of that starting line-up - props Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery, hooker Mark Regan, lock Simon Shaw, number eight Nick Easter, fly-half Jonny Wilkinson and wing Paul Sackey. England also find themselves in exactly the same position - one of clear underdogs - against Marc Lievremont's revitalised Les Bleus.

Ashton has made just three changes, despite seeing his team stutter to a 23-19 victory over Italy last time out. That result followed a first home loss to Wales for 20 years, but Ashton has decided not to carry out radical surgery. Sale Sharks scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth will make a first England start, after being handed a debut off the bench in Rome.

Blackpool-born Wigglesworth replaces 2003 World Cup-winner Andy Gomarsall, who produced poor displays against Wales and Italy, with uncapped London Irish prospect Paul Hodgson providing bench cover. It means no place in the 22 for Gomarsall, who missed Harlequins' Guinness Premiership clash against Worcester last weekend after suffering a back spasm.

The two other changes are up front, where Sheridan and Vickery return. Sheridan was sidelined for the trip to Rome by an infected cut on his heel, but he is now fully fit and takes over from Wasps loosehead Tim Payne. Vickery, meanwhile, was firstly troubled by a calf muscle problem when England headed to Rome - before a stomach bug laid him low.

He regains the captaincy from lock Steve Borthwick and replaces Matt Stevens, who drops down to the bench. Ashton, who confirmed Gomarsall has been omitted on form, said: ''We felt we probably needed some more energy in that area to raise the tempo of our game. Ultimately, we decided we would have a change there.''

Ashton, though, discounted a recall for Wasps back-row star Joe Worsley - who has returned to the training squad after making just two appearances since the World Cup final. The coach added: ''Joe has not played much rugby since the World Cup. I am delighted he's back playing again. I hope he will get a couple of games under his belt, and if he's playing well he may come into consideration further down the line.''

Wigglesworth, 24, was a member of England's 2004 Grand Slam side at under-21s level. He also helped England Saxons land the Churchill Cup last summer. Gomarsall has gone from key World Cup performer to being outside England's match-day group, despite seeing three of his scrum-half rivals - Harry Ellis, Peter Richards and Shaun Perry - all currently out injured.

There may be no way back for the 33-year-old, who has won 35 caps during a Test career that started against Italy at Twickenham in 1996. Hodgson, like Wigglesworth, has raced up the pecking order and probably sealed his selection by playing a commanding role when London Irish beat Premiership champions Leicester two days ago.

England must beat Les Bleus to retain any realistic hope of landing a first Six Nations title since the 2003 grand slam season. The World Cup semi-final apart, though, they have not defeated France in Paris since February 2000 - when Wilkinson steered them to a memorable 15-9 success.

Ashton said: ''From a personal point of view, this is my favourite game. I've always been a massive admirer of French rugby - and I am delighted to see they are playing the type of rugby they are playing at the moment.

''It is a great challenge for all our players, and wouldn't it be great if we could outplay them at their own game?''

To do so, England will need to stop a try-laden French back three of Cedric Heymans, Aurelien Rougerie and Vincent Clerc at source. England defence coach Mike Ford admitted: ''Heymans, Rougerie and Clerc are on fire at the moment. We've obviously looked at that area, and it is one we will have to defend very well in. After saying that, if they are going to play deep in their own half, we've got to see that as a 'positive' - where we can pose them quite a few problems as well.''

France head coach Marc Lievremont is confident his youngsters have the necessary qualities to shine against England after picking a bold starting line-up for Saturday's RBS 6 Nations Championship match in Paris.

Lievremont chose to go with an inexperienced spine for the clash with the World Cup finalists, with Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc the half-back pairing and Louis Picamoles at number eight.

The trio have a combined age of 62, and have just five caps between them, but have been asked by Lievremont to lead the charge against a team that broke French hearts in the semi-finals of the World Cup last October. Parra, the 19-year-old Bourgoin number nine, will make his first start for Les Bleus as a result of the calf injury suffered by rival scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.

He will be partnered by Montpellier fly-half Trinh-Duc, who started the opening-round win over Scotland but was dropped in favour of David Skrela for the narrow victory against Ireland at the Stade de France a week and a half ago.

Picamoles, who also plays for Montpellier, made his debut as a late substitute against the Irish but gets the nod over club colleague Fulgence Ouedraogo for this weekend. Lievremont has shown in his brief time in charge that he is not scared to experiment in the search for long-term profit, and he has put his complete faith in the young trio.

''The injury to Elissalde without doubt caused us to change our plans and certainly led to the selection of Parra,'' said the former France flanker. ''Yes he is young, yes Francois Trinh-Duc is young, as is Louis Picamoles. And if their experience is not too much at this level, they have already had three weeks of it. But these boys have been with us since the start of this adventure, starting with Scotland. Trinh-Duc and Parra have been impregnated by the philosophy that we are trying to install.

''We are staying loyal to our choices and our fixed way of proceeding. The guys have talent and have confirmed that in training.''

The fourth change made by Lievremont saw Toulouse lock Romain Millo-Chluski beat Pascal Pape to a place in the second row, but he was subsequently ruled out with an Achilles injury meaning Pape will partner captain Lionel Nallet.

Millo-Chluski, whose one and only cap came against South Africa in 2005, originally replaced Arnaud Mela, who did not even make it into the squad for the England game. The last time Les Bleus played England was in the World Cup, when Brian Ashton's side won 14-9 at the Stade de France to progress to the final, where they lost to South Africa.

In their first two Six Nations games, England lost to Wales at Twickenham before labouring to a less-than-impressive victory in Rome against Italy. Lievremont, however, knows nothing will come easy against the 2003 world champions. ''The English have a very solid, powerful and experienced pack of forwards, unlike us,'' he said. ''Their back row is strong and they also have experience and quality in their back-line. We feel this team have only expressed themselves in patches in these first two games but we know it will be hard. It is a good test for us, a bigger step again.''

Centre Damien Traille has been confirmed as France's goalkicker for Saturday. ''It's true that he isn't a kicker by trade but we have faith in his talent,'' said Lievremont.

Match Facts

* The countries have met on 90 occasions - England lead the series 48-35, with seven draws.

* England's record win was a 37-0 success at Twickenham in 1911, while France boast bests of 37-12 (1972) and 31-6 (2006).

* England have not beaten France away from home in the Six Nations since recording a 15-9 victory eight years ago.

* The last drawn Test match between France and England produced a 9-9 scoreline at Twickenham in 1985.

* England have played at Stade de France on nine occasions, losing seven of those games against France (four times) and South Africa (three times).

* England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson needs one drop-goal to break the world Test record of 28 he jointly holds with Hugo Porta.

* Wilkinson is just 34 points short of equalling Neil Jenkins' world record international points tally of 1090.

* England field seven of the team that beat France in last October's World Cup semi-final - Wilkinson, Paul Sackey, Andrew Sheridan, Mark Regan, Phil Vickery, Simon Shaw and Nick Easter.

* England's Six Nations success-rate since they won the title in 2003 stands at just 50%, having won 11 of their subsequent 22 Tests.

* Not including the 2007 World Cup, England have won just two of their last 17 away games, both against Italy in Rome.

Teams for France versus England, RBS 6 Nations Championship, Paris, Saturday, 2000 (GMT).

France: C Heymans (Toulouse); A Rougerie (Clermont-Auvergne), D Marty (Perpignan), D Traille (Biarritz), V Clerc (Toulouse); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), M Parra (Bourgoin); L Faure (Sale Sharks), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), N Mas (Perpignan), L Nallet (Castres, capt), P Pape (Stade Francais), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), J Bonnaire (Clermont-Auvergne), L Picamoles (Montpellier).

Replacements: W Servat (Toulouse), J-B Poux (Toulouse), J Thion (Biarritz), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), D Yachvili (Biarritz), D Skrela (Stade Francais), A Floch (Clermont-Auvergne).

England: I Balshaw (Gloucester); P Sackey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), T Flood (Newcastle), L Vainikolo (Gloucester); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), M Regan (Bristol), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath), J Haskell (Wasps), M Lipman (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: L Mears (Bath), M Stevens (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), T Croft (Leicester), P Hodgson (London Irish), D Cipriani (Wasps), M Tait (Newcastle).

Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand).

Touch judges: Alain Rolland (Ireland) and Carlo Damasco (Italy).