Three new faces for France

France have brought three new faces into their RBS 6 Nations Championship squad for the clash with England on Saturday week.

Toulouse full-back Clement Poitrenaud is recalled, replacing Anthony Floch in the one change behind the scrum.

In the pack, locks Romain Millo-Chlusky and Pascal Pape come in for the dropped Arnaud Mela and Loic Jacquet.

Head coach Marc Lievremont keeps faith with the front row that has struggled in patches in the wins against Scotland and Ireland over the first two weekends of the tournament.

That means there is no place for experienced prop Sylvain Marconnet, who is back in action after almost a year out with a leg injury.

Yannick Jauzion, France's star centre over the past few years, also misses out, despite recovering from recent injury problems.

Marconnet, who has 71 caps, has made just three substitute appearances for Stade Francais since his return and is not deemed ready by Lievremont.

"I have seen Sylvain come back, but it is not reasonable to integrate him into the group for an international match like this," he said.

On the absence of Jauzion, Lievremont added: "He is still in the process of coming back and is not yet at his full potential."

The scrum went backwards at times in the 27-6 victory against Scotland, especially in the first half, and again in the final 20 minutes of the narrow 26-21 triumph over Ireland on Saturday.

Julien Brugnaut, the Dax prop, was one of the players to come under fire but Lievremont has faith in him and the other front-row forwards he has retained.

"We believe in the potential of Julien, and we are convinced that it is going to happen for him," he added.

"We have gone with continuity, that is good for their psychology. And it isn't just the front row that we need to work on."

Pape has had a great start to the season with new club Stade Francais, and returns to Les Bleus after missing out on selection for the World Cup and then the first two Six Nations games.

Millo-Chlusky has yet to play for France but is seen as one of Toulouse's rising stars, and will compete with Pape for a starting spot in the second row alongside captain Lionel Nallet.

"We want to see other players," said Lievremont.

"Millo-Chlusky is playing at a good level, playing well for his club, and has speed and energy.

"Jacquet and Mela have great potential. We are happy with their displays - they have done what we wanted in the circumstances."

France last played England in the World Cup semi-final in October, when they lost 14-9, but England have struggled in the opening rounds of the Six Nations.

They imploded in dramatic fashion in their first game to lose to Wales at Twickenham, and were then forced to hold on to secure a tight victory over Italy in Rome on Sunday.

Lievremont still holds Brian Ashton's side in high regard, however.

"It is difficult to make a lot of changes before playing England," he said.

"We were less happy after Ireland than after the Scotland game. So we are hoping for more from the squad in the latter stages of the tournament."