England eye a Grand Slam finale

The match is being played at the largest club football ground in France - at the Stade Vellodrome - which is used regularly by the France mens national rugby team.

England are on course for a fifth and record breaking successive 6 Nations crown on Friday as well as the Grand Slam and head coach Gary Street has made five changes to the team from the one that hammered Scotland 51-0 last weekend.

Street has recalled stalwards Rochelle Clark, Sophie Hemming, Margaret Alphonsi, captain Catherine Spencer and Rachael Burford to the starting line-up. Emma Layland and Karen Jones also keep their place in the 22 after making their first starts for England this year last weekend.

Street has been unafraid to mix and match his squad in this campaign and has not retained the same starting line-up for any back to back clashes. It means that he will take a vastly experienced squad to the World Cup with more strength in depth than any other England side.

He said: "This is a really strong squad for our game against France. We have got a lot of players in form, so selection has been really difficult. There was around 27 players with their hat in the ring for selection, but we have had to make the cut to 22 and I am certainly pleased and confident in my final selection."

France on home soil are a tough proposition though and they have been on good form of late since their opening round slip-up in Scotland. Though mathematically France are still in with a shout of winning the title the reality is that the best they can hope for is a victory over the English who would most likely still win the competition but be denied a Grand Slam.

"France have certainly come back better this season and that is inevitable in a world cup year. However, we plan to go out there and play to the best of our abilities. I am not thinking about titles, grand slams, or even the world cup. Beating France is the only thing on my agenda at the moment, Street added.

Englandteam to play France:

Fiona Pocock, Katherine Merchant, Emily Scarratt, Rachael Burford, Amber Penrith, Katy Mclean (VC), Amy Turner, Rochelle Clark, Amy Garnett, Sophie Hemming, Joanna McGilchrist, Tamara Taylor, Heather Fisher, Margaret Alphonsi, Catherine Spencer (C)

Replacements:Emma Layland, Claire Purdy, Rebecca Essex, Karen Jones, La Toya Mason, Alice Richardson. Claire Allan Richmond