France-England the ultimate combat
France against England in rugby is the ultimate combat, said the England assistant coach Graham Rowntree on the eve of their Six Nations clash at the Stade de France.
The 40-year-old former England prop added he believed his team were ready for the challenge against the World Cup finalists despite the majority of the side having never experienced playing in the hotbed atmosphere of Stade de France.
"It is the ultimate combat," said Rowntree, who was capped 54 times but missed the victorious 2003 World Cup campaign after being a surprise omission in Clive Woodward's squad.
"It is such a longstanding rivalry. Some of my greatest memories at both international and club level were against French sides.
"I explained to Chris (Robshaw the captain) about the atmosphere and the Marseillaise (French national anthem) ringing out and how fantastic the occasion is."
Rowntree, the only one of the England coaching staff to survive the cull after the World Cup debacle on and off the pitch last year where they lost to France in the quarterfinals, was adamant England could match the French.
"We are ready for it. I think we showed against Wales (they lost 19-12 in their previous match after beating Scotland and Italy) that we have the endeavour and the courage to take them on after progressing in our three games so far."
Robshaw, who was appointed skipper by interim England coach Stuart Lancaster for the tournament, said there was no feeling of seeking revenge for the World Cup defeat.
"Not at all. There is no sense of avenging the World Cup defeat because I think there are only five or six players in the squad that were there," said the 25-year-old flank.
"We are only intent on putting up a good performance. The French are a formidable unit and we want to take on this challenge. Hopefully we can build on the performance against the Welsh and take another step forward."
The English were forced into a late change when wing David Strettle failed to recover from a chest injury and was replaced by Gloucester flyer Charlie Sharples.
Sharples, who was born in Hong Kong where his British Army father was stationed but left after a year, said he was unfazed by the tardiness of the call-up in what will be his first start with his sole other appearance being a second-half replacement against Wales in a World Cup warm-up match last August.
"Actually the call from Stuart (Lancaster) couldn't have been better-timed yesterday morning (Friday) as I had just checked out of the lovely country hotel where I had been staying for a couple of nights (with his girlfriend)!" said the 22-year-old.
"He told me that 'Stretts' was looking a doubt. It has been a bit of a whirlwind 24 hours but it is a great opportunity.
"I have been training with the squad and I knew if someone went down I would be called up.
"I'm not the first player to be given a late call-up for a Test match.
"Of course the whole reason one plays this game is to test oneself on the top stage. I want to be a big part of it on Sunday and hopefully be part of an England side that wins in Paris."
AFP