Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks) returns at loose head prop in place of Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), who reverts to the bench in place of David Wilson (Bath Rugby).
Leicester Tigers players Dan Cole, Louis Deacon, Toby Flood and Ben Youngs all retain their places after starting England’s victories over Wales and Italy in their first two rounds of the Championship.
Former Tigers flanker Lewis Moody has not made the matchday 22 as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.
After two rounds of matches in the 2011 RBS 6 Nations, unbeaten England and France are the only teams who retain the opportunity of a Grand Slam, and England manager Martin Johnson is enjoying the high profile build up to ‘le crunch’ match of the tournament.
“The bigger the game you play the more it goes back to what people call ‘the basics’ on the field,” said Johnson. “When the pressure is on we just need to execute and compete and put them under pressure. I enjoy the build up to this game and everyone wants to get there, get a ticket and watch it.
“Everyone over here wants us to win. We’ll concentrate on ourselves and try to improve over last week.”
England (v France, Twickenham, Saturday, February 26, 5pm)
15 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
14 Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
13 Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby, captain)
12 Shontayne Hape (Bath Rugby)
11 Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
10 Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
1 Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
5 Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
6 Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
7 James Haskell (Stade Francais)
8 Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Replacements
16 Steve Thompson (Leeds Carnegie)
17 Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
18 Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
19 Hendre Fourie (Leeds Carnegie)
20 Danny Care (Harlequins)
21 Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
22 Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
