England v France: Sam Burgess starts World Cup warm-up
Saturday 15 August 2015 19:16, UK
Cross-code convert Sam Burgess looks to cement his place in England’s World Cup plans as they play their first warm-up match against France on Saturday.
Burgess wins his first cap just 10 months after his high-profile move to Bath and is selected at inside centre alongside fellow debutant Exeter’s Henry Slade.
Northampton Saints’ Tom Wood will captain the side and is joined in the back-row by club-mate Calum Clark, who makes his Test debut, and Ben Morgan, who returns from injury.
Saracens’ duo Owen Farrell and Richard Wigglesworth are paired at half-back, bringing 50 caps experience between them.
On the bench, hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie will win his first cap should he take to the field.
Wood leads a squad that contains a mixture of youth and experience boasting four British and Irish Lions tourists; Alex Corbisiero, Farrell, Geoff Parling and Mako Vunipola.
Hooker Dimitri Szarzewski will captain France for their 100th international against England.
Old warhorses Vincent Debaty and Nicolas Mas start at prop, while Yoann Maestri is present in the second row.
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Montpellier’s Francois Trinh-Duc wins his 50th cap for Les Bleus, he is joined by Morgan Parra at scrum-half, and will provide stability to a somewhat untested backline.
England have won three of of their last five matches with France, the most recent being their 55-35 victory in this year’s Six Nations.
England: 15 Alex Goode; 14 Anthony Watson; 13 Henry Slade; 12 Sam Burgess; 11 Jonny May; 10 Owen Farrell; 9 Richard Wigglesworth; 1 Mako Vunipola; 2 Rob Webber; 3 Kieran Brookes; 4 George Kruis; 5 Geoff Parling; 6; Tom Wood; 7 Calum Clark; 8 Ben Morgan
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie; 17 Alex Corbisiero; 17 David Wilson; 19 Dave Attwood; 20 James Haskell; 21 Danny Care; 22 Danny Cipriani; 23 Billy Twelvetrees
France: 15 Scott Spedding; 14 Sofiane Guitoune; 13 Remi Lamerat; 12 Alexandre Dumoulin; 11 Brice Dulin; 10 Francois Trinh-Duc; 9 Morgan Parra; 1 Vincent Debaty; 2 Dimitri Szarzewski; 3 Nicolas Mas; 4 Alexandre Flanquart; 5 Yoann Maestri; 6 Yannick Nyanga; 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo; 8 Louis Picamoles
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado; 17 Xavier Chiocci; 18 Uini Atonio; 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina; 20 Loann Goujon; 21 Rory Kockott; 22 Remi Tales; 23 Gael Fickou
