Itoje: 'No gambles' as England unleash Fin Smith on France

Maro Itoje is adamant the decision to hand Fin Smith his first England start at fly-half in Saturday's Six Nations clash against France is not a gamble.

England head coach Steve Borthwick has picked his two most prominent playmakers in the same backline for the first time, with Fin Smith making his first start in the No 10 jersey and Marcus Smith replacing Freddie Steward at full-back.

All seven of Fin Smith's previous Test appearances have come off the bench, but Itoje is confident the 22-year-old is ready to take centre stage at Allianz Stadium.

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"There's no gambles here. We don't go to the casino," the England captain told Sky Sports. "Fin is a fantastic player.

"He's been doing his thing, training really well. He's been in camp for a long time now, so I'm excited to see him go. It's our job as his team-mates and his colleagues to support him."

England are already playing catch up in the Six Nations after their opening-round 27-22 defeat to Ireland in Dublin.

Orchestrating England's attack against Antoine Dupont's much-fancied France team on your first international start may be daunting to some but it is a challenge Itoje thinks Fin Smith was made for.

"He's actually got a very mature temperament," Itoje added.

"He's a young man, but from his demeanour, the way he conducts himself, the way he talks, the way he asserts himself, he has an air of confidence about him, which I think is really impressive."

Fin Smith: A dream to wear 10 for England

Ahead of his first start for England, fly-half Fin Smith told Sky Sports: "I'm excited, it's any young boy's dream to wear the 10 shirt for England.

"I grew up watching some of the greats, Jonny [Wilkinson], Faz [Owen Farrell], so to be told I'm going to be wearing that shirt this weekend was pretty surreal. I'm raring to go.

"Monday morning, Steve [Borthwick] told me. His words to me were: 'you've not got a very good poker face', because I was pretty bad at hiding my emotions after. I was absolutely delighted and couldn't wait to tell my family afterwards.

"He just wants to see me bring my game, not overthink it too much. Trust my instincts, go out there, enjoy myself, and hopefully the result and performance will take care of itself.

"It's great [having Marcus Smith at full-back]. It's going to be like having a second 10 on the pitch. Hopefully he's going to be my eyes and ears for a lot of the play, directing it, helping me see space and move the ball to space.

"I'm super-excited to have a player of his quality out there with me and hopefully that takes a bit of weight off my shoulders."

Five England changes ahead of France visit

Borthwick has made a total of five changes, two of them positional, for the match against France.

Ollie Sleightholme returns to the left wing after Cadan Murley was ruled out by a foot injury sustained in Dublin which could end his tournament.

Tom Willis makes his first start at No 8 as part of a back-row reshuffle that sees Ben Earl move to openside and Ben Curry drop to a bench bolstered by the return of veterans Jamie George and Elliot Daly.

George missed the opening game of the tournament because of a hamstring strain but is now set to make his first appearance since being replaced as captain by Maro Itoje.

England team to play France

Starting XV: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 George Martin, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Tom Willis.

Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly.

Antoine Dupont - rugby's Patrick Mahomes?

The world of rugby has long run out of superlatives to describe Antoine Dupont's mesmeric ability, but with it being Super Bowl week across the pond, fresh comparisons have arisen.

England attack coach Richard Wigglesworth has likened the France captain to Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, drawing comparisons in their ability to thrive in the most pressurised situations.

"He's [Dupont] the best. I think that's been acknowledged by everyone," Wigglesworth told Sky Sports. "He is complete and strong in every area.

"I've never seen a guy get out of trouble as well as he does. Someone thinks they've got him or the ball bobbles out the back, it's almost where he comes to life. That's pretty rare.

"He is [like Patrick Mahomes]. You think the play's dead, and it's not. That's a good comparison.

"How do you stop him? If coaches had the answer to that, then they'd be earning a lot of money, wouldn't they?

"He's pretty complete. He kicks off both feet, he's strong, he's quick, competitive, manages the game well. There's not an area where you think he lacks."

France bring in Jalibert, Penaud to face England

France have named Matthieu Jalibert at fly-half as one of two changes for the clash with England.

Jalibert replaces Romain Ntamack after the Toulouse playmaker was suspended for three matches for a dangerous tackle on Wales' Ben Thomas in round one.

Ntamack's ban will be reduced by a game if he completes World Rugby's course on tackle technique, meaning he could return for the title showdown with Ireland on March 8.

Damian Penaud is named on the right wing in place of Theo Attissogbe having recovered from a toe injury.

Starting XV: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (c); 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 3 Uini Atonio, 4 Alexandre Roumat, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 6 Francois Cros, 7 Paul Boudehent, 8 Gregory Alldritt.

Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Georges-Henri Colombe, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickel Guillard, 21 Oscar Jegou, 22 Nolann Le Garrec, 23 Emilien Gailleton.

Six Nations fixtures: Round Two

Saturday February 8

Italy vs Wales (2.15pm)
England vs France (4.45pm)

Sunday February 9

Scotland vs Ireland (3pm)

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