Brian Ashton has reached the point of crisis this week, that point when, midway through last season, he tore up the book and began again. “This is a big, big game for some players, I'm sure you know who as well as I do,” the England head coach said after confirming his starting XV to play France in Paris on Saturday. The threat to a few international futures was evident.

A year ago, after an embarrassingly heavy defeat by Ireland in Dublin, Ashton threw out babies and bath water and discovered a side who played such exciting rugby that they denied France a grand slam. Now players such as Jonny Wilkinson, Mark Regan and Phil Vickery, the captain, have to demonstrate beyond doubt on the Stade de France stage where, against the odds, England brought down France in a World Cup semi-final four months ago, that they are the best in their positions in the country .

Ashton has stuck by his squad so far, in part because of a series of injuries that demands that he has had to. The only substantive change in the England side that will take the field in the third round of the RBS Six Nations Championship is at scrum half, where Richard Wigglesworth, the Sale Sharks scrum half, will make his first start in place of Andy Gomarsall.

True, Andrew Sheridan and Vickery return to prop the scrum, but they would have played against Italy but for injury and illness. In any case, Tim Payne and Matt Stevens did a splendid job against the well-regarded Italy front row and would have backed themselves against a France scrum that has proved surprisingly fallible in this year's championship.

But Gomarsall's demotion has been coming for some time. Outstanding during the World Cup, the Harlequins player has not picked up the same thread since and has played as much by default as anything, given the absence of the injured Harry Ellis, Peter Richards and Shaun Perry. He suffered a back spasm against Italy but Ashton confirmed that he was not chosen for reasons of form rather than fitness and that Gomarsall's feisty reaction - that he would be back - was all he could have asked for.

Wigglesworth, 24, played the final quarter against Italy and did well behind a pack struggling for possession in the loose. “We felt we needed more energy in that position, to raise the tempo of our game,” Ashton said. To that end, he preferred the uncapped Paul Hodgson on the bench to Gomarsall. Indeed, it is to the bench that the established players need to look if they fear change is in the air if they do not perform on Saturday.

Hodgson, buoyant after his fine game for London Irish against Leicester at the weekend, is there, Danny Cipriani is there, so is Tom Croft, the uncapped Leicester flanker, never mind the frustrated ambitions of young players with more than a handful of caps such as Mathew Tait and Stevens. It is as though Ashton is of the same mind as his France counterpart, Marc Lièvremont, but is reluctant to tread the same path - yet.

The squad he chose last Friday for this game included as experienced an individual as Joe Worsley, but he has left alone his back row. Worsley has played only two matches since the World Cup final because of a damaged hamstring and persistent neck injury; he did well to last as long as he did in the London Wasps win over Bath last weekend and a reappearance at the Stade de France would be a step too far at this stage.

So Michael Lipman receives a further opportunity on the open-side flank; should he be injured James Haskell will move across and Croft's chance will come on the blind side, but Ashton and John Wells, the forwards coach, must consider that a back row that met for the first time just before the Italy game has more to offer as a unit.

“I said last month that we needed continuity, some stability, some experience in the side to take us through what is, effectively, a transition period in England rugby,” Ashton said. “We have moved on from there because of injuries.” After the four-point win over Italy, Ashton suggested that what was being forced on England was revolution rather than evolution - the guillotine may be said to be hanging over English heads in France this weekend.

Paris teams

France: C Heymans (Toulouse); A Rougerie (Clermont Auvergne), D Marty (Perpignan), D Traille (Biarritz), V Clerc (Toulouse); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), M Parra (Bourgoin); L Faure (Sale Sharks), D Szarzewski (Stade Français), N Mas (Perpignan), L Nallet (Castres, captain), P Pape (Stade Français), J Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), L Picamoles (Montpellier). Replacements: W Servat (Toulouse), J-B Poux (Toulouse), J Thion (Biarritz), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), D Yachvili (Biarritz), D Skrela (Stade Français), A Floch (Clermont Auvergne).

England: I Balshaw (Gloucester); P Sackey (London Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle Falcons), T Flood (Newcastle Falcons), L Vainikolo (Gloucester); J Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), M Regan (Bristol), P Vickery (London Wasps, captain), S Shaw (London Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath), J Haskell (London Wasps), M Lipman (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins). Replacements: L Mears (Bath), M Stevens (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), T Croft (Leicester),P Hodgson (London Irish), D Cipriani (London Wasps), M Tait (Newcastle Falcons).

Referee: S Walsh (New Zealand).