‘It is certainly going to be an interesting day and it is certainly going to be an interesting coaching challenge when you’ve got to get the psychology of the team right with all of the variables. I can’t actually think of another sporting event that this situation would or does occur.
‘It is very difficult to plan for every scenario, obviously you’ve got to go through the what if situation with your players and there are so many different permutations. You could be in a situation where you’ve got to win by 5 or by 25 or just win. So we’ve talked as a group, the Coaching Team and the Senior Players, as to how we would manage the different scenarios but ultimately it comes down to getting the performance right because if you don’t get that bit right then you lose the game and it is all over anyway.’
That performance hinges on delivering everything that they have to date and sharpening it up. English selection has been tailored according to the tasks at hand, first and foremost delivering a victory against a volatile French side and then doing their damnedest to secure whatever points may be required to deliver the Championship. Geoff Parling’s return provides a wealth of experience and lineout proficiency. Nick Easter forms part of an England bench that will play a vital role in this fixture delivering the impact and increased intensity required in the final quarter. It is tough to take for Dave Attwood but this is the reality of this International side in 2015, competition is so tough that hardly any individual’s jersey is truly safe for any amount of time. 
There won’t be anything straightforward about this fixture, the phrase ’you never know which France will turn up...’ is known to be one of rugby’s biggest clichés however in my opinion it is also one of rugby’s truest facts. France are an enigma, they baffle us with their ability to go from the sublime to the abysmal in mere minutes. If Scott Spedding, Yoann Huget and Gael Fickou play their potential they will be a handful, to say the very least. Defensively France have been on the money this Championship, they have conceeded only 2 tries this and Jules Plisson comes in at 10 to orchestrate proceedings. France may not have delivered anything specular this year however my own unsettling belief is that they could put together a performance that blows all of our socks off this weekend, indeed it would be so typically French to do so. England could have had a greater points cushion and subsequently some margin for error, however their own imprecision against Scotland negated this and now they must play with the hand that they are dealt and deliver. It is time for Stuart Lancaster's side to put the complete package out on the park, they must replicate last weekend’s try creating masterclass and they must do so with precision and flawless execution. There isn’t any margin for error, their discipline cannot falter and up front they must deliver a ruthless destruction of the French set piece and pristine breakdown fundamentals.
Everything is in the hands of Stuart Lancaster's men, come 5pm they will know their task and they must deliver the performance to achieve that. It will be the ultimate climax to what has been a whirlwind of the tournament to date.
