France coach Marc Lievremont has expressed his surprise at England's decision to drop fly-half Jonny Wilkinson to the bench for Saturday's RBS Six Nations game in Paris.

The World Cup winner has been replaced by Toby Flood in the starting line-up, one of six changes made by England manager Martin Johnson after the 15-15 draw in Scotland last weekend.

While Lievremont was expecting Wilkinson to start if fit, he has warned his side to not be complacent ahead of their tilt at the Grand Slam in the Stade de France.

He said: "I was expecting Wilkinson to start if he was fit, or not to take part at all if he hadn't recovered from his head injury.

Changes

"I haven't forgotten however that Wilkinson was not playing last year at Twickenham and Toby Flood was at fly-half.

"It didn't save us from conceding 30 points.

"And we know that if the match is in the balance, Wilkinson can come on and that could be decisive."

England's other changes see winger Ugo Monye replaced by Northampton's uncapped Chris Ashton, full-back Delon Armitage gives way to Ben Foden and outside centre Mathew Tait is dropped as 31-year-old World Cup-winner Mike Tindall makes his first appearance for a year.

In the pack, Simon Shaw comes back in place of Louis Deacon while Lewis Moody, dropped against Scotland, returns at openside flanker and Joe Worsley switches to blindside with James Haskell dropping to the bench.

Cornerstone
Lievremont added: "We were expecting the return of Simon Shaw who is the cornerstone of the English pack.

"We were also expecting England to beef up their backline with a player like Tindall even if I appreciate Mathew Tait is more creative and unpredictable.

"Through the selections of Shaw and Tindall, England have unveiled their game plan."

Lievremont also agreed with counterpart Johnson's assessment that the home team have more to lose and could be affected by the pressure of playing for a Grand Slam.

"It's true," he said. "We will be playing for high stakes and it could inhibit our players but we know it and we'll take it into account before the game."