England name same squad

London - England coach Stuart Lancaster has named an unchanged 23-man squad for Saturday's crunch Six Nations match with France at Twickenham.

Former World Cup winners England lead the standings after two matches while France, pre-tournament favourites, are rock bottom following successive lacklustre defeats.

"We've had 30-plus guys pushing hard for selection this week which is what we want," Lancaster said in a statement on Tuesday after releasing 12 players.

"We had to make some close calls but the team did very well in Ireland so we've gone with the same squad against France. We are looking forward to getting back to Twickenham against what I am sure will be a highly motivated French team." 

England 23-man squad to play France in a Six Nations international at Twickenham on Saturday:

Backs (10): Chris Ashton (Saracens), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Leicester), Alex Goode (Saracens), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Ben Youngs (Leicester).

Forwards (13): Dan Cole (Leicester), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), James Haskell (Wasps), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath), Thomas Waldrom (Leicester), Tom Wood (Northampton), Tom Youngs (Leicester)