Surprising but… unsurprising. That is how you might describe England’s line-up to take on France on Saturday in the final round of the Six Nations. Compared with the team beaten in Italy (23-18), Steve Borthwick has made just one change.

Flanker Sam Underhill takes a place on the bench. He is replaced by the usual lock Ollie Chessum. For the rest, nothing to report. Maro Itoje takes back the captaincy and the Spencer-Fin Smith half-back pairing is retained. Behind, Atkinson takes advantage of the injuries to keep his place and will partner the excellent Freeman in the centre.

Overlooked since the start of the tournament, Marcus Smith stays on the bench, as do Henry Pollock and hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie.

England’s line-up: 15. Elliot Daly ; 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Tommy Freeman, 12. Seb Atkinson, 11. Cadan Murley ; 10. Fin Smith, 9. Ben Spencer ; 8. Ben Earl, 7. Guy Pepper, 6. Ollie Chessum ; 5. Alex Coles, 4. Maro Itoje (capt.) ; 3. Joe Heyes, 2. Jamie George, 1. Ellis Genge

The replacements : 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Bevan Rodd, 18. Trevor Davison, 19. Chandler Cunningham-South, 20. Sam Underhill, 21. Henry Pollock, 22. Jack van Poortvliet, 23. Marcus Smith.