Rivals Wilkinson, Hodgson now part of midfield dream team
While prop Jason Leonard will rightly command top Twickenham billing as he wins his 100th cap, a Wilkinson-Hodgson midfield axis could ultimately steal the show and could be of more significance to England's World Cup campaign than the result of an eagerly-awaited Six Nations opener.
Hodgson, who scored an England-record 44 points on his debut against Romania in 2001, missed the autumn tests when England beat southern hemisphere giants New Zealand, Australia and South Africa because of injury.
But the gifted 22-year-old Yorkshireman's return to full fitness means Woodward can now finally field an undoubted midfield dream team of Wilkinson, Hodgson and Harlequins centre Will Greenwood.
It is a unit bursting with adventure, creativity and supreme tactical awareness, even allowing for Hodgson's acute lack of experience in the centre.
With Dan Luger and Ben Cohen forging a menacing strikeforce alongside Jason Robinson, and Matt Dawson continuing as scrumhalf, it is arguably the most exciting back division Woodward has selected during his five-and-a-half-year England reign.
Luger, meanwhile, returns for his first start since England's final game of the 2002 Six Nations campaign, relegating promising Bristol Shoguns prospect Phil Christophers to the bench.
One change up front following England's record 53-3 demolition of South Africa 11 weeks ago sees Bristol prop Julian White taking over from back injury victim Phil Vickery.
White, affected by a knee problem over the past week, came through a fitness test today, and could give England an all-important scrummaging edge, especially as France are without their destructive tighthead Pieter de Villiers.
Woodward's other major area of deliberation would have been the back row, but he has opted for the same trio that served him so well against South Africa and world champions Australia Lewis Moody, Neil Back and Richard Hill.
Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio starts as a replacement.
Three bench changes from the Springboks Test see prop Graham Rowntree and wings Christophers and James Simpson-Daniel all included. Robbie Morris, an injured Austin Healey and his Leicester colleague Tim Stimpson drop out of the 22.
Cohen did not train at England's Surrey base yesterday after experiencing tightness in his right thigh, but Woodward insisted it was purely a precautionary measure.
Leonard, meanwhile, can relish his a red-letter day, joining Philippe Sella and David Campese as only the third member of rugby union's 100-club.
He will reach a century of caps the first forward to achieve that feat 12 years and seven months after his England odyssey began as a 21-year-old against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
Despite the hype surrounding Leonard and sheer anticipation of Saturday's European heavyweight showdown, Woodward and his players know that they cannot afford to be distracted from what is a huge task.
"France is a massive game for us," Woodward said. "They beat us last year, and deservedly so.
"This is the biggest game against France that I've been involved in, and, like all the other teams in the RBS Six Nations, we want to start well."
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