Lawes also believes that England progressed from a poor 2021 campaign, despite two defeats from four matches. “I completely agree [with Jones saying England have made massive steps forward]. It’s not always the best team that wins in rugby. We picked up a couple of losses and essentially made some mistakes that cost us games but we still built as a team.”
England wing Jack Nowell, who spent much of the loss to Ireland packing down at flanker following Charlie Ewels’ second-minute red card, admitted that the team’s performances had been up and down during the tournament, with England’s wins over Italy and Wales sandwiched by defeats against Scotland and Ireland.
“A lot has been spoken about our performances in the Six Nations. We have not always had the results that we wanted but we’ve definitely played some good rugby and shown some good patches,” Nowell said, before adding: “It is really important this week to put the whole package together.”
Nowell is one of only a handful of players in this England squad to have won at the Stade de France in the past, part of the 2016 side who clinched a Grand Slam in Paris along with George Ford, Maro Itoje, Joe Marler, Ben Youngs and Elliot Daly.
“We won a Grand Slam out here a few years back so there are fond memories, but it is extremely tough,” Nowell said. “You have got the crowd and I remember the stadium being extremely loud, let alone how hard it is to play against France at home.
“It doesn’t get much bigger than this, you know, France in France, and they’re in with a chance to win a Grand Slam. It will be a massive test for us.”
Other changes made by England include the return of Youngs to start at scrum-half, while Will Stuart starts at tighthead prop ahead of Kyle Sinckler and flanker Sam Underhill comes in for the injured Tom Curry.
One positive for England in last Saturday’s record 32-15 defeat by Ireland was the performance of Itoje, who said that there is a collective responsibility on the team to deliver a performance worthy of representing the nation.
“This is a special opportunity for us as a team and individuals so I think we’re going to be ready to go,” Itoje said.
“It’s about the type of team and individuals we want to be. Ultimately, we are playing for the win and for each other. Playing against France is always competitive, but we’re playing for England here. Our motivation is to win and we don’t want to let this game pass us by. Playing for England is a massive honour and there is a responsibility that we do our best each time.”
France have meanwhile welcomed back Damian Penaud on the wing, the joint-top try scorer in the Six Nations so far tied on three with team-mate Gabin Villiere and Ireland’s James Lowe.
