England have made three changes to their starting XV for their Six Nations Championship match against France at Twickenham with Manu Tuilagi, Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes all earning recalls.

Tuilagi returned from an ankle injury which kept him out of the win over Scotland, against Ireland, but now replaces Billy Twelvetrees from the start.

And England coach Stuart Lancaster is hoping the partnership of Tuilagi and Brad Barritt can once again banish fears over their suitability in the centre in the midfield.

Manu Tuilagi
Tuilagi returns to the centre alongside Brad Barritt.

"It's a misconception that Manu and Brad can't play together and can't play expansive rugby, certainly against the All Blacks they were a pretty effective pairing together," he said. "Manu is clearly a threat carrying the ball and defensively very strong with Brad.

"He looks sharp in training, hungry and he'll be desperate to prove a point. Equally with Billy on the bench I'm sure as the game opens up with his passing skills will come to fore in the last 20 minutes.

Northampton pair Dylan Hartley, who missed the entire autumn series with a knee injury and Courtney Lawes, who will begin at six, come into the pack in place of Tom Youngs and James Haskell.

"Part of our thinking going into this game is centred around the line-out and obviously France have got a very good line-out and a lot of their attacking game comes from that whether it is driving forward play or when they move it onto the backs," Lancaster added.

"Courtney is a very good line-out forward and gives us a lot of presence there.

"He's desperate to prove a point, he's not really had a chance with injury on a consistent basis in the last year-and-a-half with me and he's played there a lot for Northampton so I'm very confident in his ability to play there."

After starting the last six tests, Youngs is dropped from the front-row in place of the more experienced Hartley, who will win his 45<sup>th cap on Saturday and Lancaster, who is conscious of France's set-piece, is confident the alteration can pay dividends.

"It wasn't Tom's fault the line-out went awry last week it's more an opportunity to give an experienced player who we trust an opportunity to prove a point. He's been sat patiently waiting for his chance after his injury," Lancaster said.

"Tom took his chance brilliantly and to play six games on the bounce at international level from where he was in believable.

"But Dylan lends some weight to the scrum and Tom also gives us a significant impact from the bench. Tom will get his go I'm sure and it just gives us some more experience in the front row for what will be a very tough French pack."

"It's a misconception that Manu and Brad can't play together and can't play expansive rugby, certainly against the All Blacks they were a pretty effective pairing together. Manu is clearly a threat carrying the ball and defensively very strong with Brad.

"He looks sharp in training, hungry and he'll be desperate to prove a point. Equally with Billy on the bench I'm sure as the game opens up with his passing skills will come to fore in the last 20 minutes."

Philippe Saint-Andre has rung the changes for France after two consecutive defeats to Italy and Wales, with Frederic Michalak dropped in play of Francois Trinh-Duc, who makes his first start for eight-months in one of eight alterations.

Wesley Fofana returns to the centre after a spell on the wing, while Vincent Clerc is fit again to take his place in the back three.

Teams:

England: Alex Goode, Chris Ashton , Manu Tuilagi, Brad Barritt, Mike Brown, Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs, Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Geoff Parling, Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Tom Wood

Replacements: Tom Young, David Wilson, Mako Vunipola, James Haskell, Thomas Waldrom, Danny Care, Toby Flood, Billy Twelvetrees

France: Yoann Huget, Vincent Clerc, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Benjamin Fall, Francois Trinh-Duc, Morgan Parra, Thomas Domingo, Benjamin Kayser, Nicolas Mas, Christophe Samson, Yoann Maestri, Yannick Nyanga, Thierry Dusautoir, Louis Picamoles

Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewki, Vincent Debaty, Luc Ducalcon, Jocelino Suta, Antonie Claassen, Maxime Machenaud, Frederic Michalak, Florian Fritz