England vs. France: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info for Rugby World Cup Warm-Up
Twickenham is prepared for another edition of "Le Crunch" as England play host to France on Saturday in what promises to be a key World Cup warm-up outing for both teams.
England coach Stuart Lancaster has a dilemma on his hands in who to keep as part of his World Cup plans, while departing France tactician Philippe Saint-Andre will want to end his managerial tenure with a bang.
Les Bleus will consider Saturday's trip to London as the ideal occasion on which to do just that, with the 2011 World Cup finalists striving to regain top form in a hurry.
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Read on for a breakdown of the biggest storylines surrounding Saturday's tie, along with all the essential viewing information.
Date: Saturday, August 15
Time: 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET
Live Stream: Sky Go app (UK), SuperSport stream (SA)
TV Info: Sky Sports 1 (UK), SuperSport 6 (SA)
The Sam Burgess Deadline
It's been difficult to evade the "will he, won't he?" storyline surrounding Sam Burgess' World Cup chances this year, but it seems as though the former National Rugby League star is bound for a place in the squad.
Even more so after it was announced he's poised to start at inside centre against France this Saturday, although Rugby World's Paul Williams struggles to see logic in the selection following's Kyle Eastmond's omission:
It seems the England hierarchy is hell-bent on fashioning Burgess into the dream midfielder wished of him upon his arrival from Australia last year, even though his best rugby has been played at blind-side flanker.
Ex-England centre Will Carling agrees, insisting the transition places an unnecessary burden on Burgess to be the best in a position he's not as accustomed to, per Breathe Sport:
"I'm more than a little surprised by the decision to start Burgess at centre against France. His best games for Bath have been at 6, so how can he be regarded as one of England’s four best centres?
I feel sorry for Sam; adapting to union is hard enough without trying to become adept in two positions, and I do not understand why he is being pushed so hard so early in his union career.
"
In an ideal world, the marauding Burgess would have grasped rugby with aplomb and made for a world-class middle man. But asking a relative stranger to the sport to adapt at World Cup level so quickly has unsurprisingly proven a request too far.
Still, Burgess is an incredible athlete and could yet surprise his doubters this Saturday, making his England debut in his second-best position with little more than a month until the big kick-off at a home World Cup. No pressure.
Hawk-Eye Arrives at Twickenham
Those who would see technology take no further steps in rugby will shirk from the sight of Hawk-Eye making its Twickenham debut this Saturday.
The Press Association confirmed England would be breaking new ground with the development at England headquarters, helping ease the pain of contentious try decisions and even helping doctors assess concussions more efficiently:
And what more fitting a venue for the change to be introduced with the World Cup now within touching distance and the sport making great strides toward perfecting the officiating process.
World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper confirmed Saturday's tie as a meeting of special importance between England and France, too, as the two nations prepare to face off for the 100th time:
"England v France on Saturday at Twickenham will be the 100th edition of 'Le Crunch'. #OneHundredGameWar
— Brett Gosper (@brettgosper) August 11, 2015"
France won just two games to finish fourth in this year's Six Nations and are under extreme pressure to drastically improve if they're to stand any chance of claiming World Cup glory.
The most promising factor is that these two teams produced a stellar 55-35 result in England's favour when they last met in the Six Nations, with fans of both teams baying to produce the same entertainment this time around.
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