England will look for the perfect start to their title defence when they host France in their Six Nations 2017 Championship opener.
Six Nations rugby full schedule
Having dominated the 2016 championship, by winning the title with a Grand Slam, Eddie Jones' team are the clear favourites to retain the crown, but that also means they will be the most marked team in the tournament.
Everyone will target a win over England, with France given the first opportunity to trip up Jones' hopes of picking up a second consecutive Grand Slam.
While England start as the stronger team, they do come in with several injury problems. The Vunipola brothers and Chris Robshaw are out of this year's tournament, while England suffered a big blow when George Kruis was ruled out of the opener against France, at least, after picking up a knee injury during training.
Anthony Watson, Sam Jones and Jack Nowell also suffered injuries during training, calling into question Jones' practice sessions, which have been described by James Haskell as "super intense."
Jones, though, is ready to press ahead with the tactics and plans that have made England such a successful team since he has taken over.
"This time last year I said that the long-term strategy for England is to develop a side who can be the most dominant team in world rugby," Jones said while previewing the tournament.
"Obviously I've been pleased with how the team's progressing, but there's still plenty to improve on. We always want to get better, every training session, every game.
"Everyone here is very hungry to have success again. We've got to come out of the blocks and play well against France. If we get that wrong, it's out of the window already so we have to take it game by game."
France are a much improved outfit under Guy Noves, and with their defence looking strong, the key for the French in this 2017 Six Nations will be finding their attacking mojo. The loss of the creative Wesley Fofana is a big blow, but Noves is confident his team can make an impact in this year's championship.
"We evolved during the Six Nations (last year), but also in the autumn against Australia and New Zealand," Noves said. "And some areas, it was the last two or three metres where we missed.
"I want my players to finish the actions they've started. And now the players are aware of that, they are aware also of what they are capable of achieving."
When to Watch Live
England vs France is schedule for a 4.50pm GMT (5.50pm CET, 10.20pm IST) start.
Live Streaming and TV information
UK: TV: ITV. Live Streaming: ITV Hub.
India: TV: No live coverage. Live Streaming: Rugby Pass.
France: TV: FR2.
Ireland: TV: RTE.
Italy: TV: DMAX.
South Africa: TV: SuperSport One. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.
Australia: TV: ESPN and Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel and Bein Sports Connect.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport 1. Live Streaming: Sky Go NZ.
Middle East, USA and Canada: TV: Bein Sports and TV5 Monde. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
Singapore: Eleven Sports.
