Ashton set to name England side

Brian Ashton is expected to name an unchanged team for the first time as England coach for Saturday's World Cup semi-final against France in Paris.

Ashton is due to unveil his team at 1400 BST and, like France coach Bernard Laporte, is expected to stick with the team who won their quarter-final.

England have been dogged by injuries to key players throughout the tournament.

But Ashton's squad have reported a clean bill of health following their victory over Australia last Saturday.

Andy Farrell and fellow centre Olly Barkley, who both missed the win over Australia, are both expected to resume full training this week after recovering from a calf strain and dead leg respectively.

Ashton would then have to decide whether to re-instate Farrell, his original choice against Australia, or retain veteran Mike Catt at inside centre.

Toby Flood, who took Barkley's place on the bench against the Wallabies, also impressed after coming on for Catt.

Only flanker Lewis Moody is a slight doubt with a sore shoulder after the 12-10 win against Australia.

England and France have met three times in previous World Cups, England emerging 19-10 winners in a violent quarter-final in 1991 in Paris, and 24-7 in the semi-finals four years ago.

France won the 1995 third place play-off between the teams 19-9.

England won this year's Six Nations encounter, but the French recorded back-to-back wins over England in pre-tournament warm-up games.

But former England hooker Brian Moore, who played in the 1991 and 1995 World Cup matches between the sides, believes Brian Ashton's men could now reach the final.

"England have a momentum now which, depending on how it is built on, may be difficult to stop," Moore told BBC 5live.

"The undoubted truth is they have a history of wins against France, and playing in Paris can be a difficult fixture for the home team if they don't play very well from the start.

"If they were to get to the final and play South Africa again, I think you would find the teams would be a lot closer than they were in the pool match (the Springboks won 36-0).

"England have been building through the tournament and been getting better and better, whereas South Africa have stuttered a bit of late."

Source: BBC Sport