Lancaster sticks to his guns

We had to make some close calls

Stuart Lancaster has named an unchanged match day squad for the Six Nations clash with France on Saturday, keeping faith with the 23 players who defeated Ireland in Dublin.

The England head coach has sent 12 players back their clubs, including Gloucester Rugby No.8 Ben Morgan, who has not yet recovered from the ankle injury sustained in the tournament opener against Scotland.

Lancaster said there were some tough selection calls, but the players who achieved a first competitive win in Ireland since 2003 deserved the chance to continue their unbeaten start to the tournament.

“We’ve had 30 plus guys pushing hard for selection this week, which is what we want,” he said. “We had to make some close calls but the team did very well in Ireland so we’ve gone with the same squad against France.

“We are looking forward to getting back to Twickenham against what I am sure will be a highly motivated French team.”

England squad:

Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (London Wasps), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath), Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers).

Backs: Chris Ashton (Saracens), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), Alex Goode (Saracens), Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).