Woodward's men get off to a flier

Twickenham chiefs today defended their decision to lay on a chartered flight to take England to Paris for Saturday's Six Nations decider.

Two years ago, the England team travelled by Eurostar. Yesterday they flew out from Farnborough on a private aircraft, which touched down at a small airport rather than Charles de Gaulle, and they will return by the same route on Sunday.

A Twickenham insider insisted the five-figure cost was comparable to the first-class fare demanded by other modes of transport.

However, it will raise eyebrows among the Rugby Football Union's management board as it suggests head coach Clive Woodward is continuing to operate with an open chequebook.

Meanwhile, France captain Fabien Pelous has played down suggestions that revenge for last November's World Cup semi-final defeat by England will be his team's main motivation.

Pelous said: "It would be silly to talk about revenge. Whatever happens on Saturday, England will still be world champions for four years. They were the best team in Australia, full stop."