England play France today hoping to reverse the 21-15 defeat they suffered in the first warm-up game against the French last week.
France, fired by late replacement Sebastien Chabal, outscored England by two tries to nil in the first game during which the English failed to convert their superior possession into points.
And the home side will be hoping that Brian Ashton's men take their dismal away form with them to Stade Velodrome, home of Marseille soccer club and one of the most intimidating venues in the country for visiting teams.
In recent times, England have recorded a solitary success -- against Italy in Rome -- from their last 15 away games stretching back to March 2004.
The World Cup title-holders have come unstuck in Paris (twice), Cardiff (twice), Dublin (twice), Edinburgh, Dunedin, Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Bloemfontein and Pretoria during that dismal period.
"We are going to Marseille with bags of confidence," insisted England's defense coach Mike Ford. "For the first time in four years, we have been together for about seven or eight weeks, and the fact we have got the bonding going will help us massively."
"We are on a journey and these last two games, I feel, have put pride back into the jersey and English rugby," he said. "We have got a squad here that is full of experience -- big-game players who understand how to win games."
With just three weeks to go before the opening game of the World Cup, France seem set to pick Toulouse duo Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Frederic Michalak at half-back.
France coach Bernard Laporte has had 31 different pairings at half-back in 89 games since 2000, and this one is seen as slightly more adventurous than that of Pierre Mignoni and David Skrela.
It will be South Africa-bound Michalak's 12th game alongside Elissalde in the French jersey.
"It's undeniably an advantage to play with Frederic," Elissalde said. "We understand each other on the pitch, that's the main point, but also off if. For half-backs it's good to have a certain complicity."
One England player looking to make his mark will be 22-year-old Wasps flanker Tom Rees.
He has shrugged off two frustrating injury setbacks -- a knee problem, then hamstring trouble -- to feature in today's encounter.
"Tom got big applause when he came on to the training pitch for the first time this week," England forwards coach John Wells said. "As a coaching team, we think very highly of him, and the players do as well. We are hoping his injuries are behind him -- he is a quality player who will add something to this side."
"Tom has had good players and coaches around him at Wasps. His defensive game is very good -- the last six months of last season you saw more rounded performances from him," Wells said. "He has the potential to go on and be one of England's greats in that position."
Scrum-half Shaun Perry and lock Simon Shaw both play in their third successive August fixture with wing Josh Lewsey also retained.
Full-back Mark Cueto, prop Perry Freshwater and hooker George Chuter join Rees in being handed their first starts of the warm-up campaign.
Finding the right balance in midfield has been a problem for England since the retirement of World Cup-winning center Will Greenwood.
If today's team is Ashton's best, it means former Great Britain rugby league captain Andy Farrell and Dan Hipkiss, who featured against Wales, are the coach's first-choice center combination, leaving a minor role for World Cup winning center Mike Catt, who was one of England's more impressive players in the first match with France.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and