BATH’S George Ford and Jonathan Joseph have both been named in England’s starting XV to face France in this Saturday’s Six Nations opener.

Both keep their place from England’s last outing, when they ended 2016 unbeaten with a 37-21 victory over Australia at the start of December.

However, despite being named in the original squad, Nathan Catt and Charlie Ewels have been released from the group preparing for the opening fixture at Twickenham, while Anthony Watson has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Whilst Joseph has failed to score a try for Bath since December 2015, he finished top of England’s try-scoring charts with eight tries, twice as many as any other player in the squad.

With Watson missing through injury, Chiseldon’s Jonny May moves to the left wing and Joseph will partner Owen Farrell in the midfield, with Ford playing fly-half.

“We’ve been able to select a very strong and experienced team to play against France and we are excited to get the tournament underway,” said England head coach Eddie Jones.

“There’s a great rivalry between the countries so we’re looking forward to a great occasion playing against one of England’s oldest foes.

“It’s exciting to be back at Twickenham. We’ve got great supporters and we’re looking forward to hearing them turn up the volume on Saturday.”

Meanwhile, number eight Taulupe Faletau has failed to recover from a knee injury in time to feature for Wales against Italy.