England vs France Preview & Tips - More Six Nations pain for England as France secure second successive triumph

France hit the ground running with a superb 43-0 win over Wales that underlined their Grand Slam winning credentials. 

France have won five of their last 10 against England, with the latter winning the other five meetings. 

Despite only losing to Ireland by five points in round one, England are still clearly someway short of both their conquerors and next opponents on the pitch. 

A 76th minute try for Tom Curry and an 82nd minute score for Tommy Freeman along with one conversion saw England add 12 points to their total, meaning they went from 27-10 down to 27-22. While fighting until the final whistle is an admirable quality, few would really suggest that England were truly deserving of a losing bonus point. 

An admirable fight in the first-half saw the travelling side lead 10-5 at half-time. However, Ireland came out for the second 40 renewed as they took a 22-0 second-half lead to move 32-10 up in the 73rd minute. England's late salvo came with the match already over as a contest. The worry for England will be that they were comfortably beaten by an Irish side that struggled to get anywhere near top gear. Meanwhile, France looked in great form in round one. 

Steve Borthwick is reportedly looking to start Northampton's Finn Smith at 10, pushing Marcus Smith to 15. While this will give England more creativity across the pitch, moving Smith to full-back will mean France likely target him with the high ball in the absence of Freddie Steward. While the pressure on Steve Borthwick is not in the same bracket as Wales' Warren Gatland, a loss this weekend would make it seven defeats in their last eight. The questions being asked would only get louder with another loss. 

Twickenham will expect a big reaction from England, but they will struggle against a French side that is firmly among the best in the world.

France made it four consecutive wins last weekend as they humiliated Wales in a 43-0 win to move to the top of the Six Nations table. 

The French were ruthless in their win over Wales, scoring four first-half tries before adding another three in the second-half. Their perfect record saw France win the first-half 28-0 before easing to a 15-0 second-half win. The one major blot on their copybook was the red card for fly-half Romain Ntamack for a dangerous tackle, which will see him miss this match. 

Despite being without their first-choice 10, I predict that this French side will once again prove they are the side to back as they secure a fourth consecutive win over England. I am also backing Damian Penaud to add to his 36 tries in 53 appearances this weekend.