England boss Clive Woodward still believes his side can retain the Six Nations crown despite their crsuhing loss to France left Les Bleus in pole position for a Grand Slam.

Woodward is keen for his side to move forward since their 20-15 defeat in Paris, starting with this Saturday's clash with Wales at Twickenham.

"It has been a long two or three weeks," he admitted. "The French game really annoyed me, probably more than any other during the past four years.

"We got a lot of things wrong that day. By our standards, we were nowhere near what we know we can do. Some of our players didn't think correctly under pressure in Paris. We didn't make the right decisions in the heat of battle, and it is a tough job when you lose because there is a long time between games.

"There were no excuses against France. It was a terrific French performance, but from England's point of view it wasn't a good day," he added.

"It was a good reality check for us and has made us even more determined. I hate losing games of rugby.

"I am in the process of fixing what went wrong, but this is not the Grand Slam championship," added Woodward, fed-up with repeated references to England's recurring failures in terms of completing a championship clean sweep. We can still win the championship and we intend to win it if we can."

Woodward has no qualms about switching 45-times capped Healey to fullback in place of the injured Jason Robinson. Healey will emulate Mike Catt (full-back, fly-half, wing and centre) in filling four different England roles.

"Austin is arguably the most skilful player in the back division, and there are no issues in moving him to full-back.

"It is a blow to lose Jason. But these things happen, and it's probably his own fault for saying somewhere that he hadn't been injured for five years!"

Up front, Phil Vickery's latest injury problem has left the Gloucester captain bemoaning a seemingly endless catalogue of fitness blows.

"I am sure that I will get my day some day - but I keep being hit with these freak injuries," said Vickery.

"Clive (Woodward) is disappointed, but if you multiply that by a million then that is where I stand."