Sam Burgess makes his England debut at inside centre alongside fellow debutant Henry Slade, with Anthony Watson on the wing. Rob Webber starts at hooker, with David Wilson and Dave Attwood adding experience from the bench.

Tom Wood, the Northampton Saints back row, who led England in their two-Test tour of Argentina in 2013, is named as captain as England start a series of three games leading into the Rugby World Cup.

England play France home and away (August 22nd) in successive weeks followed by the final QBE International against Ireland at Twickenham on September 5th.

Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: "We are really excited to play our first QBE International at Twickenham and to put into practice some what we have been working on for the last six weeks.

"The lads are itching to get out and play a match and these games give us a chance to look at a wide range of players and combinations before we narrow down our selection further.

"Tom is one of several leaders in the squad and he captained the team well in Argentina when Chris Robshaw was rested so this is an ideal opportunity to take the armband at Twickenham against what will be a quality French team.

"I'm delighted for the new caps and for Ben Morgan, who has worked so hard to get back to fitness following his injury."

England team to face France

15 Alex Goode
14 Anthony Watson
13 Henry Slade
12 Sam Burgess
11 Jonny May
10 Owen Farrell
9 Richard Wigglesworth
1 Mako Vunipola
2 Rob Webber
3 Kieran Brookes
4 George Kruis
5 Geoff Parling
6 Tom Wood ( c )
7 Calum Clark
8 Ben Morgan

Replacements

16 Luke Cowan-Dickie
17 Alex Corbisiero
18 David Wilson
19 Dave Attwood
20 James Haskell
21 Danny Care
22 Danny Cipriani
23 Billy Twelvetrees

England fixtures

August 15th, QBE International, Twickenham Stadium, England v France, 20.00

August 22nd, Stade de France, France v England, 21.00 (local time)

September 5th, QBE International, Twickenham Stadium, England v Ireland, 14.30

September 18th, RWC 2015, Twickenham Stadium, England v Fiji, 20.00

September 26th, RWC 2015, Twickenham Stadium, England v Wales, 20.00

October 3rd, RWC 2015, Twickenham Stadium, England v Australia, 20.00

October 10th, RWC 2015, Manchester City Stadium, England v Uruguay, 20.00

Five Bath Rugby players named in squad to face France

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