England forward trio back for Grand Slam decider

England have reinforced their pack for the Women's Six Nations Grand Slam decider against France with the return of World Cup winners Lilli Ives Campion, Maddie Feaunati and Sadia Kabeya for Sunday's match in Bordeaux.

The trio missed last Saturday's win over Italy through injury.

With a raft of players sidelined, England have had to dig into their reserves, particularly up front, to maintain a 37-Test winning streak and stay on course for a record-extending fifth successive clean sweep of the tournament.

However, the Red Roses are closer to full strength than they have been since their opening-round win over Ireland.

Captain Meg Jones admitted the return of Kabeya, Feaunati and Ives Campion is timely for the side's toughest test of the year so far.

"The girls who have stepped in have been huge for us," Jones said.

"The adaptability and resilience we have in this squad is massive, but to have them to fall back on, particularly in this game, which is going to be a big one, is important to us.

"It's going to be a physical battle. France are trying to hit us off the top and rightly so."

Elsewhere in England's line-up, Ellie Kildunne is restored to her more accustomed full-back role, with Jess Breach and Claudia Moloney-MacDonald completing an experienced back three.

Zoe Harrison, who has been excellent off the tee and kicking from hand throughout the tournament, keeps her place as the starting fly-half ahead of Holly Aitchison.

Delaney Burns, who played her first England games since 2023 during this campaign, forms a second-row partnership with Ives Campion.

Burton, who switched to number eight after Feaunati pulled out of the line-up in Parma, partners the Exeter star in the back row, with Kabeya, who won player of the match in the September's World Cup final, at open-side flanker.

Liz Crake, who won her most recent cap in 2023 and has returned to working as a dentist alongside her rugby, has been named on the bench after Saracens team-mate Kelsey Clifford suffered a leg injury.

England have won their past 17 meetings with France in all competitions, but were pushed to within a point in a 43-42 victory in last year's Six Nations finale.

France, who have grown into the tournament as a new-look backline have found their feet, will be roared on by a crowd that is expected to set a new record for a Women's Six Nations match in France at the 42,000-capacity Stade Atlantique.

England's defence has been uncharacteristically lax in their last couple of matches, with both Italy and Wales taking try-scoring bonus points in defeat.

Head coach John Mitchell says some of those lapses have been the cost of installing an attacking mindset as part of the team's evolution.

"We'll just keep scoring more," he said.

"It's our new identity, it's the way that we're evolving our game.

"We realise we can't build everything in one tournament. So our intentions and our emphasis has certainly been in one area.

"It doesn't mean that we are not trying to fix a couple of areas in the ruck and maul and rotations might have played a part in that.

"For me, experience and defence are one of the easiest things to fix. Ultimately we will be stronger down the track for these learnings."

England: Kildunne; Breach, Jones (c), Rowland, Moloney-MacDonald; Harrison, L Packer; Carson, Cokayne, Bern, Ives Campion, Burns, Burton, Kabeya, Feaunati

Replacements: Powell, Crake, Muir, Short, M Packer, Robinson, Aitchison, Sing.