Waiting to take on the world

Johnson's men will win with something to spare and that's exactly what the fans want to see. Having crowded around television screens to witness the destruction of All Black and Wallaby myths, the faithful want to see their heroes in the flesh. They also want a performance to confirm that last weekend's 17-16 defeat was just a minor setback along the way to World Cup glory.

The England squad, the most carefully prepared group of rugby players ever assembled by this country, claimed last week's result was "the kick in the pants we needed". The argument made to me by the players is that the squad had started to believe its own publicity and the defeat put everything back into focus.

If the players feel that way then a commanding performance against France is the only acceptable response. The match is coach Clive Woodward's final chance to work out who will make the 30-strong World Cup squad he names on Monday while four of the current unit are going to be devastated by his decision. For centre Stuart Abbott, wing Iain Balshaw and No8 Martin Corry, the equation is simple: play well and you are going to Australia.

Failure will leave them at home and Lewis Moody, Dan Luger and Ollie Smith probably on the plane.

The French players are also desperate to impress coach Bernard Laporte who, unlike Woodward, has built his second string up into something special.

"There is no such thing as a first team or a second team. If in the worst case we get beat, we will learn from it. But this is an outcome that we are definitely not contemplating," said Laporte.

It's an outcome England dare not consider too and that is why Woodward has brought in the majority of his team that won the Grand Slam last season and then defeated the All Blacks and Wallabies. Besides the reassuring sight of Johnson at the heart of the pack, Woodward can take massive comfort from the presence of Jonny Wilkinson, his match-winning outside-half.

Wilkinson hates watching rugby and the last two weekends have been purgatory. After each of his performances - no matter how many plaudits he has received - Wilkinson draws up a list of weaknesses he believes are present in his game and plans his trainingaccordingly. The notes made after victory over Australia in June are worn out and he is desperate to play and draw up another list of aims.

"There is always something to work on," insists Wilkinson, a self-confessed workaholic. "I try to improve everything on my list and after this game, I am sure there will be different things to look at. It will be helpful."

With men like Wilkinson in his side, you can see why Woodward is so confident of making a real impact at the World Cup and against France tomorrow.