Dylan Hartley, Mike Brown miss out for England's Six Nations clash v France
Thursday 8 March 2018 14:28, UK
Captain Dylan Hartley will miss England's Six Nations clash against France in Paris on Saturday due to a calf injury, while Mike Brown drops to the bench.
Saracens hooker Jamie George replaces the Northampton Saints man, while elsewhere, full-back Brown is replaced by Elliot Daly, who immediately returns to the starting XV on the left wing following his injury return; Anthony Watson makes the positional switch to full-back.
Inside-centre Owen Farrell will captain the side in Hartley's absence, while loosehead prop Mako Vunipola has been named as vice captain.
In midfield, Ben Te'o earns a recall as Bath centre Jonathan Joseph drops to the replacements bench.
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), James Haskell (Wasps), Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs) and Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins) all also come onto the bench.
"This game is about the opportunity for the team to move forward and we want a response from the players this week," said England head coach Eddie Jones.
"Against France we want to be brutal and aggressive on the gain line and to play with a great tactical discipline.
"Owen [Farrell] will be very proud to be captain but at the same time he is disappointed for Dylan [Hartley] to miss out through injury and he knows the position of captain carries a lot of responsibility.
"We need to make sure we have one strong voice among the forward leaders and Mako [Vunipola] has been doing some great work behind the scenes and will step up and take that on officially against France."
England team to play France: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Jamie George, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Nathan Hughes
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 James Haskell, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Mike Brown.
