England manager Martin Johnson made three changes to his team to face France on Sunday as he resisted the urge for a widespread reassessment after back-to-back defeats by Wales and Ireland.

Wing Paul Sackey failed to recover from a calf strain and is replaced by Ugo Monye, Simon Shaw comes into the second row for Nick Kennedy while Tom Croft starts on the flank for James Haskell.

Kennedy, one of England's more impressive performers, and Haskell drop to the bench as Johnson looks to add bulk to his pack.

Johnson had threatened to come down hard on the miscreants after the tidal wave of penalties and yellow cards that have made England's task so difficult in the three games so far but Phil Vickery and Danny Care, both sin-binned against Ireland, keep their respective places.

England, with those two defeats and only a victory over Italy to their name, are out of the running for the championship they have not won since 2003 but France are back in the hunt for a third title in four years following their home win over holders Wales last time out.