Dawson shows he's a true Saint

'I find it bizarre and absolutely unbelievable for anyone to suggest that I am less committed than I ought to be just because of one game which didn't go as well as I would have liked. Tiger Woods has the odd bad shot but that doesn't mean he is lacking commitment and he does a lot of media work.

'Whenever Dave Alred (Eng-land kicking coach) is around, I always attend kicking practice. Before the Leicester match, I kicked for two-and-a-half hours on the Thursday, for 90 minutes on the Friday and did some more work on Saturday morning. It certainly wasn't for a lack of practice that I ended up kicking like a drain in the match.

'I have had no letters of complaint from the public and not one adverse comment. On the contrary, I have had nothing but support from the club, which is fantastic. What my family, friends and employers think of me is what I care about.

'It just frustrates me that certain people are taking their views out on me, Johnno and Lawrence.'

The trio were the shop stewards in the England squad's lightning strike last November which was supposed to have resulted in their signing international contracts with the RFU before the end of January. The players signed for their clubs instead, an agreement which ties them closer to their employers and provides the Premiership elite with real bargaining power in their quest for one-third of the revenue grossed from Twickenham Tests.

How that affects their international future once the contracts take effect on July 31 remains to be seen but Dawson's spot of bother has not affected his status as England ' s No.9 . Manager Clive Woodward said: 'Matt is a delight to work with and coach. If I thought there was a problem, I wouldn't have picked him. He's picked on merit although he knows he is in a competitive position.'

How the French wish they could say the same about a team with a tendency to come apart at the seams. Their most recent collapse, before the Welsh revival in Paris last month, explains why they arrive in London today with a new pair of locks and centres.

Abdel Benazzi, recalled for the umpteenth time, locks the scrum with the relatively unknown Lionel Nallet. Fabien Pelous reverts to No.8 and Christophe Milheres wins his first cap on the blindside of the back row at 29.

Xavier Garbajosa, the Toulouse wing-cum-full back, returns in midfield alongside the recalled Stephane Glas.

FRANCE: J-L Sadourny; C Dominici, S Glas, X Garbajosa, P Bernat-Salles; G Merceron, F Galthie; S Marconnet, R Ibanez, P de Villiers, L Nallet, A Benazzi, O Magne, F Pelous (capt), E Milheres. Substitutes: F Landreau, A Galasso, D Auradou, T Lievremont, P Carbonneau, D Skrela, T Lombard.