Northampton 9 Racing 92 9: Northampton’s England contingent failed to make an impression as Eddie Jones resumed his busy pre-Christmas scouting tour of the Aviva Premiership clubs last night.

France 38 Romania 11: If Ireland had allowed any complacency to creep into their minds ahead of Sunday’s clash with Romania then this will have surely eradicated it.

Racing Metro 92 11 Saracens 12: Marcelo Bosch basked in the gratitude of his team-mates after kicking Saracens into the semi-finals of the Champions Cup in dramatic scenes in north Paris.

If Ireland are to win in Paris for just the second time in 42 years then they may have to do it the hard way after France coach Philippe Saint-Andre named his strongest side thus far in the Six Nations.

France have included centre Gael Fickou in one of four changes to their starting XV for Saturday’s clash with Ireland on the final weekend of the RBS 6 Nations.

France 30 Italy 10

France 26 England 24

Clermont Auvergne 28 Racing Metro 3

Edinburgh 3 Racing Metro 15

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has made five changes and one positional switch for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash against Wales in Cardiff.

England captain Chris Robshaw and full-back Ben Foden last night endorsed Stuart Lancaster’s bid to become the team’s full-time coach after a remarkable RBS 6 Nations triumph over France.

Scotland wing Rory Lamont suffered a suspected broken leg in the 23-17 RBS 6 Nations loss to France at Murrayfield yesterday.

Full-back Stuart Hogg will make his first Test start today as Scotland look to revive their RBS 6 Nations campaign against Rugby World Cup finalists France.

Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations clash with France was tonight given the go-ahead after the Stade de France passed a pitch inspection by referee Dave Pearson.

DEFLATED French hooker Dimitri Szarzewski claimed his side were “playing 15 against 16” in their Rugby World Cup final defeat against New Zealand due to the passionate home support in Auckland.

FRANCE coach Marc Lièvremont has thrown down the gauntlet to his players ahead of Saturday’s World Cup warm-up with Ireland in Bordeaux by declaring that Les Bleus are now in “competition mode”.

Biarritz forward Raphael Lakafia will make his France debut against Ireland in Bordeaux on Saturday.

Mathieu Bastareaud has been left out of France’s squad for their upcoming internationals against Fiji, Argentina and Australia.

ARGENTINA bounced back from their home series defeat by Scotland in style with a record thrashing of Six Nations champions France in Buenos Aires.

FRANCE coach Marc Lièvremont blamed his team’s horrific opening 20 minutes for their 42-17 loss to South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday.

IF Martin Johnson needed any reassurance the anguish of developing a new England team can ultimately be worth it, he need only listen to Marc Lievremont.

FRANCE coach Marc Lièvremont was reluctant to talk up comeback king Mathieu Bastareaud ahead of Ireland’s forthcoming trip to Paris, despite the Stade Francais man announcing his return to the international stage with a brace of tries yesterday.

STADE FRANCAIS seized the initiative in Heineken Cup Pool Four with victory over Ulster at Stade Jean Bouin.

Stade Francais 29 Ulster 16

France 43 Samoa 5

ENGLAND romped to their most emphatic victory over France since the glory days of 2003 as Martin Johnson’s under-fire side enjoyed a staggering return to form at Twickenham.

England 34 France 10

Ireland enter their 2009 RBS 6 nations opener against France today in the unusual position of being favourites for the fixture.

FRANCE captain Lionel Nallet preferred to dwell on his team’s victory over Italy rather than the prospect of registering a heavy win against Wales next weekend to retain the RBS 6 Nations Championship title.

England arrive in Paris seeking a first Six Nations victory at Stade de France for eight years today.

FRANCE will take “a spirit of revenge” with them into tonight’s RBS 6 Nations clash against their World Cup conquerors England.

France will take “a spirit of revenge” with them into tomorrow night’s RBS 6 Nations clash against their World Cup conquerors England.

France 26 Ireland 21

NEW-LOOK France got their RBS 6 Nations Championship campaign off to the perfect start with an impressive victory against lacklustre Scotland at Murrayfield.

MARC LIEVREMONT didn’t take long to usher in a new dawn in French rugby yesterday by naming six uncapped players in a much-changed squad for the Six Nations Championship opener against Scotland.

CARDIFF head coach Dai Young rued his side’s lack of cutting edge at the death after seeing them come within inches from causing a huge Heineken Cup upset against Stade Francais.

DAVID HILL kicked Bristol to the most notable win in their Heineken Cup history as tournament favourites Stade Francais suffered a surprise Pool Three defeat.

ROB ANDREW admitted England had “rewritten the rules” after reaching the World Cup final despite three years of upheaval and just 10 months of dedicated planning.

England 14 France 9

France 64 Georgia 7

WORLD Cup hosts France took out nine days of pent-up frustration on Namibia with a resounding victory that will have drawn nervous glances from Ireland last night.

France launched the 2007 Rugby World Cup tonight amid huge expectancy levels in coach Bernard Laporte’s final assignment before he takes up a French ministerial post.

GARETH JENKINS admitted Wales were taught a lesson in finishing by France as they signed off ahead of the World Cup with a 34-7 defeat at the Millennium Stadium.

THE agonising waiting game for England’s World Cup hopefuls could be over sooner than expected.