England target first Grand Slam since 2003

England coach Eddie Jones will seek to confirm his team's transformation from World Cup flops to Six Nations Grand Slam winners when they take on France on Saturday as rivals fight over the consolation of second spot.

Jones, who masterminded Japan's three victories at last year's World Cup (including one over the mighty South Africa), has so far seen the English defeat Scotland (15-9), Italy (40-9), Ireland (21-10) and Wales (25-21).

That string of four victories gave Jones a Six Nations title at the first time of asking, so ending England's run of four successive runners-up finishes under former coach Stuart Lancaster.

A victory at the Stade de France on Saturday, with the kick-off set for 2000 GMT, would go a step further by handing England a first Grand Slam since their World Cup-winning year of 2003, when Jones was in charge of losing finalists Australia.

"We've won the championship, but the job feels half done for us at the moment," said Jones, whose side has contrived to botch four other occasions to nab a Grand Slam since the Five Nations became Six in 2000.

Jones made two changes to his team, bringing in prop Mako Vunipola and scrum-half Danny Care for benched duo Joe Marler and Ben Youngs.

Marler's inclusion comes amid a furore after the Harlequins player escaped sanction for calling Wales' Samson Lee a "gypsy boy" last weekend, opening a debate over whether what the Welsh player dubbed on-field banter should in fact have been acted upon as racist abuse.

France's 29-18 defeat by Scotland in Edinburgh last weekend scuppered their title hopes, coach Guy Noves responding by calling up back-row forwards Loann Goujon and Bernard Le Roux into his starting side at the expense of Yacouba Camara and Wenceslas Lauret in a bid to beef up his pack.

In Cardiff, Wales and Italy will go in search of consolation wins of very different sorts.

The Welsh will be desperate to give the home crowd something to cheer about after last weekend's 25-21 defeat by England, allied to Scotland's win over France, scuppered their title hopes.

Italy's need for a win, or at the very least a committed display after a nine-try, 58-15 mauling by Ireland in Dublin, again re-opened the debate about whether the Azzurri, who've lost all four of their matches so far this championship, were worth a place in the Six Nations.

- Brunel farewell -

Wales coach Warren Gatland has made several changes, with Dan Lydiate captaining Wales after the New Zealander decided there was no point in rushing first-choice skipper Sam Warburton's return from a concussion suffered against England.

Italy coach Jacques Brunel has rung the changes, making five in all to his starting side, for what will be the Frenchman's final match in charge.

Meanwhile, Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has revealed he will decide on his international future after the country's three-Test tour of South Africa in June.

The 50-year-old's current contract expires after next year's Six Nations, but after an injury-affected championship in which he handed debuts to five players, the New Zealander has hinted at staying on until the 2019 World Cup to provide a developing squad with "continuity".

Schmidt led Ireland to back-to-back Six Nations titles in his first two years in charge, and they could yet finish third this season if they beat Scotland in Dublin on Saturday and England complete a Grand Slam.

Ireland captain Rory Best will make his 32nd consecutive Six Nations appearance on Saturday after the hooker overcame a calf problem.

History beckons for Scotland as victory would see them record three wins in a single Six Nations for the first time since 2006.

It is a remarkable turnaround for a Scotland side who were on a cumulative run of nine straight championships defeats after losses to England and Wales in this year's first two rounds.

But a 36-20 win over Italy that stopped the rot was followed by last week's 29-18 victory over France at Murrayfield and now Scotland are in sight of winning three successive matches in a single championship for the first time since the 1996 Five Nations.

Scotland coach Vern Cotter has made three changes to his starting line-up with Duncan Weir replacing Finn Russell at fly-half, after the latter suffered a concussion against the French.
Source: AFP