Ashton: 'Corry's a rugby warrior'

Brian Ashton remains an avid fan of Martin Corry's "warrior" qualities despite not handing him the captaincy for Sunday's Six Nations showdown with Grand Slam-chasing France.

Corry lost the England captaincy to Phil Vickery when Ashton succeeded Andy Robinson at the end of last year.

But with Vickery injured for England's fourth game in the RBS Six nations Championship Ashton has turned to 35-year-old World Cup winner Mike Catt as skipper rather than Corry.

Corry has been moved from the back row to the second row as Ashton feels that he will need all his concentration to familiarise himself with a position he rarely plays for either club or country.

Ashton said: "Martin Corry is a rugby warrior. He plays every game with his heart on his sleeve for Leicester and England. I am confident he can do the job.

"He is an outstanding lineout forward, and he will bring a little bit extra in terms of dynamism, which we will need if we are going to compete with the likes of France."

Meanwhile, France have made three changes to the side which beat Wales 32-21 in Paris last time out.

Dimitri Yachvili replaces Pierre Mignoni at scrum-half while Sale Sharks number eight Sebastien Chabal and Stade Francais prop Pieter De Villiers come in for Elvis Vermeulen and Nicolas Mas respectively.

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