Leonard ready for 'battle of the hit' against aggressive French

Six Nations' Championship: Red rose centurion prepares for tough test at Twickenham as O'Sullivan's men look to upset the established order

Jason Leonard, an English centurion in caps if not in age, has taken a phone call or three from his old front-row muckers in the 36 hours or so since he received confirmation of his 100th international appearance for his country against France at Twickenham on Saturday. Paul Rendall has been in touch, Jeff Probyn too. "The conversations seem to start politely enough, but they go downhill pretty fast," he grinned. "I may be 34, but they still see me as a jumped-up little know-all with ideas above my station."

One of these fine days, the boy from Barking will get the respect he deserves. It will not happen this weekend, though. The French confirmed their line-up yesterday, with Christian Califano on the tight head of their scrummage, from which position he will attempt to ruin Leonard's landmark afternoon. Califano is also past 30, and is the most-capped Tricolore prop of them all with 65 in the bag. He is strong and fast and gifted, with a definite streak of nasty about him. Leonard knows he is in for a demanding 80 minutes of bump, grind and gristle.

"The French don't change too much: they're big and aggressive and they bring a pretty raw mentality to their work at the scrum," he said. "It's the way they've been brought up, and it is reflected in the way the game is refereed over there. It's the battle of the hit, isn't it? They love their scrums, bless 'em."

Leonard should know, having squared up to Les Bleus on no fewer than 14 occasions in 12 years, and he does not expect his 15th trip around the block to be any less demanding, or less painful, than the others. He will enjoy himself, though, albeit in the bar during the après-rugger rather than on the pitch during the main event. "It's not about the 100th cap, but about playing in a way that doesn't undermine whatever reputation I've built for myself. That's what counts. But yes, I appreciate the meaning of the occasion. Crikey, 50 caps would have been a fairy-tale."

Meanwhile, young Charlie Hodgson has a sixth cap – and his first at inside centre – to concentrate his mind. Sale's playmaker-in-chief seemed relaxed and confident enough yesterday – "The England squad operates in a no-fear environment, so I don't see why I should change the way I operate just because it's my first start in a Six Nations match," he said – but the shakes and shudders will kick in soon enough. "I'm always nervous before a game, irrespective of who I'm up against," he admitted, resigning himself to a sleepless night on Friday.

At least he has the faith and support of the England hierarchy behind him. "Charlie will allow us to explore a different way of playing," said the manager, Clive Woodward. "It's not rocket science. With Jonny Wilkinson at outside-half and Charlie alongside him, we will have a left foot-right foot option from the breakdowns. In modern rugby, it is clearly advantageous to have two guys who are used to playing at outside-half, or first receiver, or whatever you like to call it. Looking at this new back division, I think we now have options we didn't have in some recent games."

Woodward is relishing this opportunity to right the wrongs of last March, when England's Grand Slam ambitions disappeared in a puff of blue smoke in Paris. "We didn't help ourselves that day – it was our worst performance of the year," he said. "We were caught fair and square, but we won't be caught this time."

The French side is largely the same between one and 10: same half-backs, same back row and just two changes to the tight five, where Califano replaces the disgraced Pieter de Villiers and Olivier Brouzet gets a run ahead of David Auradou at lock. The back line is considerably different, however. With Nicolas Brusque, David Bory and Tony Marsh struggling with injuries, Clément Poitrenaud and Xavier Garbajosa are recalled at full-back and centre respectively. On the left wing, the exhilarating Vincent Clerc has been granted a first Six Nations start just a few months after breaking into the Toulouse side.

* The Saracens centre Kevin Sorrell will be out of action for about 10 weeks after fracturing his skull during last weekend's Premiership game against Northampton. Sorrell, who had been selected for the England A squad to face France on Friday, was hurt when he collided with the Saints flanker Andrew Blowers. Sorrell is also likely to miss Saracens' Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final against Bath.