The final action in the 2024 edition of the Six Nations comes from Lyon on Saturday where France host England.
France v England, Saturday 16th March, Lyon, KO 22:00 (South African time)
Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Weather Forecast - Lyon
France
France have had a very mixed tournament and they come into the final round of matches in fourth placed with 11 points, behind Scotland on points difference, 1 point behind England and 5 points shy of Ireland.
Their best performance came last time out in Round 4 when they pulled away from Wales in Cardiff to come away with 45-24 bonus point win, easily covering a minus handicap of 6.5 points.
Although Les Bleus started their Round 3 clash with Italy in Lille as 26.5 point favourites they were fortunate to hold on for a 13-13 draw as the Azzuri missed a golden opportunity for victory when they hit the post with a penalty at the death. France put themselves on the board with a 20-16 win over Scotland at Murrayfield in Round 2. It was only in the 70th minute that they led for the first time and there was late drama as the Scots thought they had scored a winning try at the death but the TMO ruled in favour of Les Bleus. France took on Ireland in Marseille in Round 1 and although they were 4.5 point favourites on the handicap they finished well beaten, 38-17.
Fixtures & Results: R1 Ireland (h) lost 38-17, R2 Scotland (a) won 20-16, R3 Italy (h) drew 13-13, R4 Wales (a) won 45-24, R5 England (h)
England
England were 11.5 point underdogs for their Round 4 clash with Ireland at Twickenham and after putting in by far their best performance of the tournament they snatched a 23-22 victory thanks to a drop goal from Marcus Smith at the death. That lifted England into second place with 12 log points, 4 shy of Ireland who they will be hoping come unstuck and earn nothing when they host Scotland earlier in the day.
England's only defeat of the tournament came in Round 3, 30-21 in Scotland. In Round 2 they
had to dig deep and rely on the boot of George Ford to grind out a 16-14 home win over Wales and they opened up their tournament against Italy in Rome where they trailed 17-14 at half time before second half improvement saw them edge the contest 27-24.
Fixtures & Results: R1 Italy (a) won 27-24, R2 Wales (h) won 16-14, R3 Scotland (a) lost 30-21, R4 Ireland (h) won 23-22, R5 France (a)
Team News
France: 15 Leo Barre, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gaël Fickou, 12 Nicolas Depoortere, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Thomas Ramos, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Gregory Alldritt (c), 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Sebastien Taofifenua, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Paul Boudehent, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Yoram Moefana
England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ethan Roots, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Manu Tuilagi
Head to Head (6 Nations Only)
2023 6N Twickenham England 10–53 France (Tries ( 1-7 )
2022 6N Paris France 25–13 England (Tries 3-1 )
2021 6N Twickenham England 23–20 France (Tries 2-2 )
2020 6N Paris France 24–17 England (Tries 3-2)
2019 6N Twickenham England 44–8 France (Tries 6-1 )
2018 6N Paris France 22–16 England (Tries 1-1)
2017 6N Twickenham England 19–16 France (Tries 1-1 )
2016 6N Paris France 21-31 England (Tries 0-3 )
The Betting
France -6.5 points at 9/10
England +7.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
France were impressive in the second-half against Wales and England will be on a high after upsetting Ireland last week.
France’s home performance has been poor in this Tournament so far, but I am expecting that to change this week with a convincing victory over an England side that may well have “played their final” last week a bit like the semi-final win over the All Blacks in the 2019 RWC.
The only question for me is, will I take the -6.5 or France over 27.5 points? After some deliberation I am sticking with the handicap on this one.
BET: 5 UNITS, France -6.5 at 9/10 at Hollywood*
*If you are not signed up yet, please use this link to open your account at Hollywood
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.
