England v France, Six Nations Championship, March 15
Changes for France and England
Scrum.com
March 11, 2009
England lock Simon Shaw, Scotland v England, Six Nations Championship, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, March 8, 2008
Simon Shaw will return for England against France © Getty Images
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Simon Shaw has been recalled into the England squad as one of three changes to the side to face France at Twickenham on Sunday.

Shaw replaces London Irish lock Nick Kennedy, who is unfortunate to miss out, while Tom Croft replaces James Haskell on the blindside flank. Harlequins wing Ugo Monye replaces the injured Paul Sackey out wide.

Croft will provide an extra lineout option in the absence of Kennedy, who has been in dominant form in the tournament so far. Shaw offers extra ballast to the pack and will be looking to compete against the powerful French combination of Jerome Thion and Lionel Nallet.

Haskell's drop to the bench means no place for Gloucester's Luke Narraway in the 22, while Danny Care, vilified after his yellow card in Dublin, retains his place on the bench. Andy Goode retains his place on the bench in place of Danny Cipriani, who has again been released back to Wasps.

Johnson admitted that while Sackey has been carrying an injury, he has been dropped on form and also that Kennedy has played well and is unfortunate not o have made the cut for the starting XV.

"He [Sackey] has got an injury but we wanted to make the change," said Johnson. "We have good options there but we went with a specialist winger in Ugo. He has had injury problems but has come back and looked strong and sharp.

"Nick is a little bit unlucky. It is a balance with the players you want on the field. Simon Shaw and Nick are very different players. I said to Nick he has played well and not done anything wrong but it is about the balance. I said the same to James about Tom's inclusion. Tom gives us a lineout option and he has been playing well."

France coach Marc Lievremont has shifted Sebastien Chabal into the back-row for Sunday's crucial game. Chabal has been selected on the openside flank in place of Fulgence Ouedraogo, with Thierry Dusautoir and Imanol Harinordoquy retaining their places.

Francois Trinh-Duc starts at fly-half in place of Benoit Baby, with Mathieu Bastareaud retaining his place in midfield despite the return from suspension of Florian Fritz. Morgan Parra continues at No.9 while Julien Malzieu retunrs on the wing after competing for France at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai last weekend.

Jerome Thion returns to the side in the second-row after a year in the international wilderness due to an injury to Romain Millo-Chluski and partners skipper Lionel Nallet and in the front-row there is a return for Sale prop Lionel Faure.

England: D Armitage (London Irish); U Monye (Harlequins), M Tindall (Gloucester), R Flutey (Wasps), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); T Flood (Leicester), H Ellis (Leicester); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), S Shaw (Wasps), T Croft (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), J White (Leicester), J Haskell (Wasps), N Kennedy (London Irish), D Care (Harlequins), A Goode (Brive), M Tait (Sale Sharks)

France: Maxime Medard (Toulouse); Julien Malzieu (Clermont-Auvergne), Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Yannick Jauzion, Cedric Heymans (both Toulouse); Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Morgan Parra (Bourgoin); Lionel Faure (Sale), Dimitri Szarzewski, Sylvain Marconnet (both Stade Francais), Lionel Nallet (Castres, capt), Jerome Thion (Biarritz), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse), Sebastien Chabal (Sale), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz).

Replacements: Benjamin Kayser (Leicester), Thomas Domingo (Clermont-Auvergne), Louis Picamoles (Montpellier), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont-Auvergne), Sebastien Tillous-Borde (Castres), Florian Fritz (Toulouse), Damien Traille (Biarritz)

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