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Six Nations 2025: How England plan to stop France's Antoine Dupont and cause upset at Allianz Stadium

England were beaten 27-22 by back-to-back champions Ireland in Dublin on Saturday; Steve Borthwick's side return to action against France, who saw Antoine Dupont help them thrash Wales 43-0 in their Six Nations opener

FILE - France's Antoine Dupont runs during the Autumn Nations Series rugby international between France and Argentina at the Stade de France stadium at Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, file)
Image: Antoine Dupont will likely play a key role for France in Saturday's Guinness Six Nations clash against England

Tommy Freeman insists England are confident of containing France's scrum-half genius Antoine Dupont in Saturday's Guinness Six Nations showdown at the Allianz Stadium.

Dupont underlined his creative brilliance in Friday's demolition of Wales to provide more compelling evidence to those who argue that he is the sport's greatest player of all time.

England have been busy devising a strategy to prevent the Toulouse ringmaster from running the show in a must-win encounter and Freeman insists he is not invulnerable.

Antoine Dupont, France vs Wales, 2025 Six Nations
Image: Antoine Dupont impressed for France in their victory over Wales on Friday

"You can't underestimate how good a player he is, but he's human. He's like everyone else - you take his legs and he goes down," the Northampton wing said. "It's all about picking things up nice and early with him and putting him under pressure.

"I'm sure like any other player, when you put pressure on them they start to leak a few opportunities."

France set the Six Nations alight with their 43-0 Dupont-inspired drubbing of Wales and fears are growing that they are poised to inflict further misery on England.

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The Times' Martyn Ziegler reflects on France's crushing 43-0 win over Wales in the Six Nations opener, which has heaped pressure on Warren Gatland

A 27-22 defeat by Ireland on Saturday registered a record-equalling seventh successive defeat against top-tier opposition for Steve Borthwick's side, and one more loss would represent a new low in the nation's 154-year rugby history.

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On current form the Twickenham showdown is a mismatch, but Freeman is adamant that England can pull off the upset.

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England captain Maro Itoje said his side endured a difficult second half as they were beaten by Ireland in the Six Nations but believes there are positives to build on

"Of course we can. At the end of the day everyone is human, it's rugby," Freeman said. "They'll have a gameplan, we'll have a gameplan and we'll back ours to the moon and back. They'll do the same to theirs. We'll give ours as best a shot as we can.

"Obviously we wanted to come away with a result against Ireland. We felt like our first half was unbelievable. We came out firing and left it all out there. There was probably an element in the second half where we lapsed in concentration and a few things didn't go our way.

"We're disappointed with that, but the promise we've got in this squad means it's going to tick and it's going to change. Hopefully we'll get on the right side of the results."

England's Maro Itoje at the end of the 2025 Six Nations match against Ireland in Dublin
Image: Maro Itoje reflects on a narrow defeat for England in their Six Nations opener against Ireland

Lozowski replaces injured Murley in England squad

Saracens centre Alex Lozowski has replaced injured winger Cadan Murley in England's squad ahead of Saturday's game with France.

Murley marked his international debut with a try against Ireland as England began their 2025 campaign with a 27-22 loss in Dublin, but the Harlequins winger suffered a foot injury.

Head coach Steve Borthwick's decision to supplement his options in midfield and full-back with Lozowski means Murley's place in the starting line-up will be filled by a member of England's original squad.

Dublin , Ireland - 1 February 2025; Cadan Murley of England celebrates after scoring his side's first try during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and England at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. (Photo By Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Image: Cadan Murley opened the scoring for England in an eventful outing against Ireland

The leading contenders to start against France at Twickenham are Ollie Sleightholme, Tom Roebuck and Elliot Daly, all of whom missed out on the 23-player match-day squad in Dublin.

If selected, Lozowski would win his first England cap since 2018, having missed out on an appearance last autumn despite being included in training squads.

Murley is expected to have another scan on his foot in two weeks' time and could still return to action later in the tournament.

England have a week off after facing France and then play Scotland at Murrayfield on February 22. There is enough of a gap after that fixture before Borthwick's side complete their campaign with back-to-back fixtures against Italy and Wales.

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