Moody’s misfortune offers Tindall chance to help point England towards grand slam

The Bath back row damaged ligaments on club duty on the eve of the tournament but his cameo for the West Country side last weekend hinted at an early return to international action.

However, he has suffered a recurrence of the injury giving Otley-born centre Tindall – who has guided England to the top of the standings with impressive wins over Wales and Italy – the chance to help the Red Rose take a big stride towards a first grand slam for eight years.

Such has been the momentum gained in the opening two games, team manager Martin Johnson has made only one change to the side that scored eight tries against the Azzuri, with Andrew Sheridan restored to the front row and Alex Corbisiero dropping to the bench.

Johnson said: “Lewis is our captain, we all know what he brings to the team and he’s worked really hard to get back. Everyone was confident but these things happen, unfortunately.

“He’s disappointed, but we haven’t had him so far and the other guys have done a good job. We’re fully happy with James (Haskell) and Tom (Wood).

“It’s a consistent team selection, there’s lots of guys playing well in the Premiership and putting pressure on but we thought this was the right group to go with.”

Moody’s failure to make the 22-man squad means Leeds Carnegie’s Hendre Fourie keeps his place on the bench, with Haskell continuing at openside flanker.

Fourie’s Leeds team-mate Steve Thompson is again among the replacements and will reach a landmark in his long and illustrious international career if he comes on for Dylan Hartley. The 32-year-old will join Brian Moore on 64 appearances as the most capped hooker in England history.

Alongside Fourie and Thompson in the seats in front of Johnson will be Leeds-born scrum-half Danny Care, who will win his eighth consecutive cap as a replacement.

England head into the France game on the back of their first victory over Wales in Cardiff since 2003 and their biggest Six Nations win in a decade against Italy.

“The good thing with these lads is they will go out and play,” Johnson said.

“Over the last 18 months we have had a group of young players who have forced their way into the team, they have had their opportunities to play and taken them.

“The form and consistency has improved and you start getting some of the good things that happened last week and the week before (against Wales and Italy).

“France have a very good all-round game and are dangerous. They’ve won eight on the trot in the championship.

“They can beat anyone in the world. People talk about which team’s going to turn up – well, we can’t affect that until five o’clock.

“We can only affect which England turns up – and it’s going to be the best one.

“But we back ourselves as well. You want to be in the headlines and hopefully we can do that with our performance on Saturday.”

If England are to win tomorrow they must find a way to neutralise the French pack, in particular tight-head Nicolas Mas, who was the foundation of their victory last year.

Scrum coach Graham Rowntree believes the England unit are better for that Paris experience and tomorrow they will have Sheridan back at loosehead.

Johnson said: “It is pretty clear when you look at what was happening last year, we have to be very strong on our loosehead side.

“Mas likes to get into that gap and put a lot of pressure through there. We have to stop him.”

Full-back Maxime Medard has been ruled out for France, with his Toulouse team-mate Clement Poitrenaud replacing him.

England: B Foden (Northampton Saints); C Ashton (Northampton Saints), M Tindall (Gloucester Rugby, capt), S Hape (Bath Rugby), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); T Flood (Leicester Tigers), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), D Hartley (Northampton Saints), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), L Deacon (Leicester Tigers), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Wood (Northampton Saints), J Haskell (Stade Francais), N Easter (Harlequins). Replacements: S Thompson (Leeds Carnegie), A Corbisiero (London Irish), S Shaw (London Wasps), H Fourie (Leeds Carnegie), D Care (Harlequins), J Wilkinson (Toulon), M Banahan (Bath Rugby).