Can England manager Martin Johnson and captain Steve Borthwick silence their doubters with victory over France? © Getty Images

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Teams: Changes for France and England

Head to Head: England look to extend winning run

Matches: England 34 - 10 France

Players/Officials: Mathieu Bastareaud | Steve Borthwick | Martin Johnson | Marc Lievremont

Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations

Teams: England | France

Grounds: Twickenham Stadium

England take on France at Twickenham on Sunday under increasing pressure to get back to winning ways.

Five defeats in their last seven games does not make pleasant reading no matter how brave their performance against Wales or narrow their loss to Ireland. The disciplinary woes that have resulted in a mind-blowing 10 yellow cards in the last four games continue to blight the team and anger manager Martin Johnson. Meanwhile their alarming lack of creativity and a questionable kicking game have had many sharpening the knives. Johnson and co will do well to beware the Ides of March.

Despite efforts to play it down within the England camp, discipline remains key to this weekend's clash. Johnson called on the services of referee Wayne Barnes in the build-up to the game in an attempt to get to the root of the problem and the England boss will be hoping it has the desired effect. However, if England are in any way less committed in their bid to avoid another plethora of penalties then they risk being punished by a France side fresh from wrecking Wales' Grand Slam hopes.

That performance in Paris re-invigorated France's own title hopes and similar show of strength and guile could see them end a two-match Championship losing streak to their cross-Channel rivals.

Another brutal physical contest awaits at Twickenham with England likely to attempt to outmuscle their opponents. The recall of lock Simon Shaw adds a formidable presence to the England pack and lock Nick Kennedy is unlucky to miss out with Johnson determined to stand by his under-fire captain Steve Borthwick.

Johnson's commitment to his captain is unwavering and changing his on-field leader at this stage would perhaps do more harm than good and is perhaps seen as a last throw of the dice, but his time is running out. Now, more than ever, he needs an inspirational performance as critics continue to question his credentials. Whereas Johnson will be afforded plenty of time to prove his selection was the right one, Borthwick does not have that luxury. Could this be the match where Borthwick silences the doubters? He need look no further than his manager's own playing days for a lesson in leading by example.

James Haskell's omission is also a surprise but he is sure to make an impact in the latter stages of the game and winger Ugo Monye could add a spark that has sorely been missing from the England backline. Matthew Tait provided a rare example of attacking flair against Ireland and is sure to get another opportunity to shine.

Toby Flood retains his spot at fly-half but will be under greater pressure to give England more direction. Any more aimless kicking will be gobbled up by the ever-dangerous France back three of Maxime Medard, Julien Malzieu and Cedric Heymans.

France coach Marc Lievremont too has offered one or two surprises in selection which seems to be the norm. The crowd-favourite Sebastien Chabal moves into the back-row for in place of Fulgence Ouedraogo who impressed against Wales. Thierry Dusautoir and the resurgent Imanol Harinordoquy retain their places and a fierce battle looms with their English counterparts.

The pattern of the game will likely see England continue to kick for territory and position banking that they can win the lineout battle but they should be wary of kicking away to much possession - if the home crowd turns on them they face an even tougher task.

All eyes will also be on the formidable frame of centre Mathieu Bastareaud after his impressive debut against Wales and the 17st, 6ft 2in is likely to make his presence felt on the England defence.

Such is France's way that you question whether they can produce the same kind of intensity that accounted for Wales especially without the energising support of the Stade de France crowd. They found a winning balance between power and flair last time out but can they maintain that form? Victory would see them remain in the hunt for the title with Italy awaiting them on the final weekend - no mere incentive.

Despite their recent woes and a reliance on a far from inspiring forward-dominated approach, England will still fancy their chances in what is a must-win game. There appear so many elements that require attention for England that the odds are that they cannot remedy them all but the indiscipline looms large as the major headache and they will not win until they stem the flow.

England's failure to heed warnings will not be tolerated by management and a penalty count in double figures will spell trouble all round. Hopefully they have realised by now that playing with less men than the opposition hinders your chances of winning. But improvement cannot come at the cost of agression at the breakdown - forward momentum remains key.

Victory at any cost will be the target for England and they will require another big defensive display if they are to stop the rot. However, their big match mentality should see them home in a close contest - but don't expect it to be pretty.

England: Delon Armitage (London Irish); Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Riki Flutey (Wasps), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks); Toby Flood (Leicester), Harry Ellis (Leicester); Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Lee Mears (Bath), Phil Vickery (Wasps), Steve Borthwick (Saracens, capt), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Tom Croft (Leicester), Joe Worsley (Wasps), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Julian White (Leicester), James Haskell (Wasps), Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Danny Care (Harlequins), Andy Goode (Brive), Matthew 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)

Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television Match Official: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)