| Date: Sunday 6 December Kick-off: 14:00 GMT Venue: Twickenham |
| Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds, the BBC Sport app and website with live text commentary |
Coach Fabien Galthie will not try to revise an agreement that rules most of France’s top players out of the Autumn Nations Cup final against England.
Scrum-half Antoine Dupont, captain Charles Ollivon and centre Virimi Vakatawa are among those who have already played three Tests this autumn.
Under an agreement with France’s top clubs, no player can play more than three internationals in this window.
“We just have to go forward and deal with what we have,” said Galthie.
“You cannot ask the players to come into the squad, leave, and come back again.
“It’s too difficult for a player. Club rugby and international rugby are two different things.
“We make do with what we have in an environment that’s not ideal.”
| Saturday, 5 December | |
| Georgia v Fiji | 12:45 GMT Murrayfield |
| Ireland v Scotland | 14:15 GMT Aviva Stadium |
| Wales v Italy | 16:45 GMT Parc y Scarlets |
| Sunday, 6 December | |
| England v France | 14:00 GMT Twickenham |
Governing body World Rugby extended the usual autumn period for international rugby union from four weekends to seven to allow teams to clear the backlog of fixtures caused by cancellations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
France beat Wales in a warm-up Test before overcoming Ireland in their delayed Six Nations closer.
They then went on to beat Scotland and Italy after their first match of the Autumn Nations Cup against Fiji was called off because of an outbreak of Covid-19 in the opposition camp.
France have named a youthful 31-man group for the match against England at Twickenham next Sunday that does not include any of the starting XV that beat Eddie Jones’ men in their opening Six Nations match in February.
Peato Mauvaka, Cameron Woki and Matthieu Jalibert, who were replacements for that win, are in contention for this weekend, along with Brice Dulin, a veteran of 30 caps, and Clermont’s powerful wing Alivereti Raka.
But first-choice fly-half Romain Ntamack has been ruled out because of injury, while number eight Gregory Alldritt, centre Gael Fickou, scrum-half Baptiste Serin and wing Teddy Thomas have also reached the limit of games they can play during this autumn window.
“England are a nation who do not lose a lot and they are going to play with their best team. They’re probably the best team in the world right now since South Africa have not been playing,” added Galthie.
England’s top-flight clubs have agreed to make their players available for the extra internationals this year.
