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#360fans: England vs France Six Nations – UAE rugby supporters preview

Andrew Binner

22:11 19/03/2015

England welcome France to Twickenham knowing that a significant victory will win them the 2015 Six Nations championship.

To gather an insight into the minds of the two sets of fans we asked UAE club rugby players from the respective countries to share with us their predictions and players to watch.

Do you agree or have they missed the mark? Use #360Fans to share with us your thoughts.

 

BEN ROTHWELL – XODUS WASPS (ENGLAND)
On another day (against Scotland) we could have won by thrity points but we got the win that we needed to give us a chance (of winning the title) on the final weekend.

The French are normally quite a good scrummaging pack, but England have also proved themsleves to be strong in this area. 

For me England's stand-out player against Ireland was Courtney Lawes. He is a destructive weapon in defence and he showed some attacking flair aswell. I think he is going to me key for us.

I imagine the French will swing the ball wide as quickly as they can and beat England on the outside, but so far there is no evidence that they can do this.

ENGLAND LINE-UP: M Brown (Harlequins); A Watson (Bath), J Joseph (Bath), L Burrell (Northampton), J Nowell (Exeter); G Ford (Bath), B Youngs (Leicester); J Marler (Harlequins), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), G Parling (Leicester), C Lawes (Northampton), J Haskell (Wasps), C Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), B Vunipola (Saracens).

PREDICTION: England will win by 10-12 points. If England get the 10-12 points they will win the title, but if not then Ireland.

ETIENNE MASSON – DUBAI SHARKS (FRANCE)
The best things about the Italy game for France were the victory and the defence. The tackles came thick and fast in a very attritional game in the rain until the last second which has not been the case for a very long time for France.

The task at Twickenham will be very difficult. England are way ahead in front of Les Bleus in terms of World Cup preparations.

Our coach Philippe Saint-André is still experimenting with new players while England have a very polished side and clear tactics. England are in the enviable position of having a young generation of very talented players.

England have many beautiful rugby years in front of them but the pressure for France is very different. This is our last opportunity to win away against one of the major rugby nations before the World Cup. A win in this last match would totally change France's momentum for the good and turn the tournament into a positive experience.

We need to keep the defence strong and tight. We saw that when England have space to run, they are extremely dangerous. We should probably focus on defencee and use turn over balls to counter attack quickly.

FRANCE LINE-UP: S Spedding, Y Huget, G Fickou, M Mermoz, N Nakaitaci, J Plisson, S Tillous-Borde; V Debaty, G Guirado, N Mas, A Flanquart, Y Maestri, T Dusautoir (capt), B Le Roux, L Goujon.

PREDICTION: It is a very hard game to call but I would say a win for England by 10 points. Ireland to take the title though.

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