Beneath the towering, glass halo roof of Stade de France, a venue where they have endured nothing but famine, England must finally answer the question that has dogged Clive Woodward's reign: can they produce when les frites are down?
The outcome of this year's Six Nations championship will almost certainly hinge on the result, as will Woodward's coaching epitaph. A famous victory and the coach, with six months left on his contract, can dictate his own terms; a savage defeat and the pent-up bile of his detractors will be unleashed once more.
Should one man's reputation really hinge on 80 minutes of sport? Possibly not, but Woodward knows he can ill-afford Parisian deja vu.
Today's game offers potentially awesome collisions between such world-class forwards as Neil Back, Olivier Magne, Lawrence Dallaglio and Abdel Benazzi, each equipped to challenge the conventional wisdom on irresistible forces and immovable objects.
But England's crucial failures against France here two years ago, against Wales at Wembley last April and against New Zealand and South Africa in the World Cup double whammy were not caused by physical inadequacy.
It is in the area of tactical cut-and-thrust where they have run into persistent problems; crucially, moreover, there is as yet no evidence Woodward is a lucky coach.
Even the news that France have been forced into yet another change at out-half by Alain Penaud's 11th-hour muscle strain could not wholly lift the unease in the visitors' camp. Thomas Castaignede will now be at number 10, Richard Dourthe at full back and David Venditti in the centre, but England's gaze, understandably, remains stubbornly fixed on the formidable home pack. All week, in a neat reversal of stereotypes, it is the French under Bernard Laporte who have been threatening to stick the ball up their jumpers, whereas the English are vowing to throw it wide and ignore the forces of conservatism. Until yesterday, that is, when Woodward's millionaire's game plan appeared in danger of disintegrating before kick-off, its foundations shaken by a calf injury to tight-head prop Phil Vickery.
The big Cornishman's condition apparently worsened on Thursday night and, short of a miracle cure, Leicester's Darren Garforth will assume the front row responsibilities despite having only recently returned from injury himself.
Woodward's his ultimate motivation today is to prove that despite "all the crap I've had to put up with in the past two years" his vision of the direction English rugby should take remains the right one. "The more people throw stones, the tougher you get. I don't mind it from the press, but when you get certain ex-players and coaches saying `This can't be done, what he's trying to do is impossible', it makes you even more determined to succeed.
"It's not just me. I'm not just a lone voice in the England coaching team. We're all convinced this is what we should be doing. If we haven't already, we will produce a team who will scare anyone we play against."
It is time, then, for Back, Dallaglio and co to drag their younger colleagues to the level where Woodward insists they belong. If they succeed in beating the World Cup finalists in their own backyard they deserve lavish garlands.
If, on the other hand, the same old mental and tactical frailties reappear, no one will be more disillusioned than their coach.
France: R Dourthe (Dax); E Ntamack (Toulouse), D Venditti (Brive), T Lombard (Stade Francais), C Dominici (Stade Francais); T Castaignede (Castres), F Galthie (Colomiers); C Califano (Toulouse), M Dal Maso (Colomiers), F Tournaire (Toulouse), L Matiu (Biarritz), O Brouzet (Begles-Bordeaux), A Benazzi (Agen), O Magne (Montferrand), F Pelous (Toulouse, capt).
Replacements: R Ibanez (Perpignan), P De Villiers (Stade Francais), T Lievremont (Perpignan), S Betsen (Biarritz), C Laussucq (Stade Francais), S Glas (Bourgoin), C Desbrosse (Toulouse).
England: M Perry (Bath); A Healey (Leicester), M Tindall (Bath), M Catt (Bath), B Cohen (Northampton); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), M Dawson (Northampton, capt); J Leon- ard (Harlequins), P Greening (Sale), P Vickery (Gloucester), G Archer (Bristol), S Shaw (Wasps), R Hill (Saracens), N Back (Leicester), L Dallaglio (Wasps).
Replacements: I Balshaw (Bath), A King (Wasps), A Gomarsall (Bedford), M Corry (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps), T Woodman (Gloucester), N McCar- thy (Gloucester).
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia).
