Geoff Parling returns to England line-up for Six Nations showdown with France

England have made one change to the starting XV that saw off Scotland on 14 March, with Geoff Parling set to replace Dave Attwood for the Six Nations showdown against France on 21 March.

Leicester lock Parling missed the early rounds of the 2015 tournament after suffering a knee injury on club duty earlier this year, but has been rewarded by head coach Stuart Lancaster for his spirited cameo in the Calcutta Cup victory.

Attwood, meanwhile, drops out of the match-day squad altogether as veteran back-row forward Nick Easter is promoted to the bench as England look to utilise his wealth of experience for what promises to be a tense finale.

"Geoff did well off the bench against Scotland and now that he has got some games under his belt we feel it is the right time to start him and use his experience and quality in the starting line-up," Lancaster said of Parling's inclusion alongside Courtney Lawes in a very robust second row.

"The same goes for Nick Easter, who has really impressed in camp and in his appearances off the bench. Nick is a quality ball carrier and great defender - things we feel we'll need in the latter stages of the game."

The outcome of the 2015 Six Nations remains enticingly uncertain ahead of the last round of matches and four teams still have an opportunity to emerge victorious, although the possibility of a grand slam finish was ended with Ireland's enthralling defeat to Wales in Cardiff.

Points difference will almost certainly be the decisive factor, with England currently level on six points with both of those two aforementioned sides but atop of the standings by virtue of a slightly superior points difference.

France retain a very slender chance of ending an inconsistent campaign with trophy success, although they would need to record a comfortable win over England and hope other results fall comfortably in their favour.

Philippe Saint-Andre, who guided his unpredictable side to a 29-0 victory over Italy in their last outing, has made two injury-enforced changes to his line-up for the trip to Twickenham, with fly-half Jules Plisson replacing Camille Lopez and prop Vincent Debaty in for Eddy Ben Arous.

England XV to face France

15. Mike Brown, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Jonathan Joseph, 12. Luther Burrell, 11. Jack Nowell, 10. George Ford, 9. Ben Youngs; 1. Joe Marler, 2. Dylan Hartley, 3. Dan Cole, 4. Geoff Parling, 5. Courtney Lawes, 6. James Haskell, 7. Chris Robshaw, 8. Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: 16. Tom Youngs, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Kieran Brookes, 19. Nick Easter, 20. Tom Wood, 21. Richard Wigglesworth, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Billy Twelvetrees.