England face France at the Stade de France on Saturday night in the final game of the Six Nations; a victory for England will deny France a Grand Slam title; Maro Itoje: “Our motivation is to win, we don’t want to let this game pass us by”
By Emma Thurston
Last Updated: 18/03/22 3:56pm
England’s meeting with France is the final match of the Six Nations on Saturday night
Maro Itoje believes England have a ‘special opportunity’ to take against France on Saturday as they aim to finish their Six Nations campaign on a high note.
Eddie Jones’ team were removed from the title race when they fell to a spirited defeat by Ireland in round four and they arrive in Paris with the aim of avoiding finishing in the bottom half of the table.France are expected to complete the Grand Slam having already proved themselves to be the competition’s outstanding team, but Itoje warns England are playing for pride. “We’re in good shape. There was a lot of effort [put in] during the game but ultimately, we fell short,” Itoje said.”For us, obviously, there was a bit of physical recovery and mental recovery that we needed to do this week. This a special opportunity for us as a team and as individuals. We’re going to be ready to go.” France have had a great Six Nations but we want to finish strong, so it’s about creating our own party rather than spoiling theirs. Eddie Jones Head coach Eddie Jones has made five changes to the that took on Ireland at Twickenham, with George Furbank, Ben Youngs, Will Stuart, Nick Isiekwe, Sam Underhill coming in. Six Nations – Round Five fixtures …