England have made a bold selection shake-up for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with France at Twickenham, with Marcus Smith moving to fullback and Fin Smith earning his first Test start at fly-half.
The dramatic changes come as Steve Borthwick’s side look to bounce back from their opening weekend defeat in Ireland.
Fin Smith impressed during his brief appearance in Dublin last week, prompting his promotion to the starting XV in the number 10 shirt.
In another significant change, Ollie Sleightholme comes in on the wing to replace Cadan Murley, who misses out through injury after scoring on his debut last week.
Marcus Smith has been moved to full-back
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Tommy Freeman remains the only survivor in the back three from the Ireland match.
Saracens forward Tom Willis has been handed his first start at Number 8, having featured from the bench six days ago.
Ben Earl moves to the flank, while Tom Curry keeps his place in the back row, with brother Ben Curry dropping to the replacements.
Captain Maro Itoje will partner with George Martin in the second row for the French encounter.
The front row remains unchanged, with Luke Cowan-Dickie continuing his role at hooker.
Fin Smith will start as England’s No 10
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Ellis Genge and Will Stuart complete the front row combination that started against Ireland.
Former captain Jamie George returns from injury to take his place among the replacements.
Borthwick has opted for a 6-2 split on the bench, with Elliot Daly providing utility back coverage.
The replacements lineup includes forwards Ollie Chessum and Chandler Cunningham-South, who will be expected to make an impact later in the game.
The bench also features Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, Ben Curry and Harry Randall as England seek to overturn their fortunes.
France arrive at Twickenham following their victory to nil against Wales in their opening fixture.
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The French side will be bolstered by the return of Damian Penaud, who missed their opener with a toe injury. The Bordeaux winger has scored six tries in the last two championships.
Matthieu Jalibert will direct operations at fly-half, replacing Romain Ntamack who received a red card last week.