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England winger Ugo Monye believes a combination of prayer and pilates saved his Six Nations dream after he was laid out by a back injury on the eve of the tournament.

Monye, 25, missed England's pre-tournament training camp in Portugal with a recurrence of an old problem that flared up during Harlequins' Heineken Cup win over the Scarlets.

Eighteen months ago, Monye spent nearly a week lying on the floor of his friend's flat unable even to walk to the bathroom and he was eventually sidelined for eight weeks.

When England kicked off their Six Nations campaign against Italy, Monye was immobile again and fearing he may not recover in time to feature in the tournament.

"My back just seized up and went into a ridiculous spasm," said Monye, the former schoolboy sprinter who will win his fifth cap against France after replacing Paul Sackey.

"It was exactly the same as 18 months ago and I couldn't even get on the flight to Portugal because I could not walk. I was bedridden for a few days and all the demons that I had previously exorcised came back to haunt me again.

"I feared I would miss out on the Six Nations because last time it took me eight weeks to recover which would have taken me right out of contention.

"I watched the Six Nations as a kid and it was gutting to think I may miss out on all the matches."

But a combination of rest, jogging and light pilates helped Monye back to full fitness and the committed Christian believes the faith he shares with his mother helped speed up the recovery.

"To be back playing for Quins in three weeks was great and here I am preparing for a first Six Nations game against France," said Monye.

"Rest solved the spasm and walking plus pilates helped sort it out. I believe my own faith and the prayers of my mum speeded things up."

Monye, who played all four of England's autumn Test matches, comes into a side desperate to make amends after narrow defeats on the road to Wales and Ireland.

"I played against the top three teams in the world in November but this tournament is against your rugby neighbours with huge rivalries," said Monye.

"France will be a really tough test - I firmly believe we can win our next two games at home. It is realistic to say we can beat France and then Scotland the following week."

Teams:

England: 15-Delon Armitage, 14-Mark Cueto, 13-Mike Tindall, 12-Riki Flutey, 11-Ugo Monye, 10-Toby Flood, 9-Harry Ellis; 8-Nick Easter, 7-Joe Worsley, 6-Tom Croft, 5-Simon Shaw, 4-Steve Borthwick (capt), 3-Phil Vickery, 2-Lee Mears, 1-Andrew Sheridan.

Replacements: 16-Dylan Hartley, 17-Julian White, 18-James Haskell, 19-Nick Kennedy, 20-Danny Care, 21-Andy Goode, 22-Mathew Tait.

France: 15-Maxime Medard, 14-Julien Malzieu, 13-Mathieu Bastareaud, 12-Yannick Jauzion, 11-Cedric Heymans, 10-Francis Trinh-Duc, 9-Morgan Parra; 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7-Sebastien Chabal, 6-Thierry Dusautoir, 5-Jerome Thion, 4-Lionel Nallet (captain), 3-Sylvain Marconnet, 2-Dimitri Szarzewski, 1-Lionel Faure.

Replacements: 16-Benjamin Kayzer, 17-Thomas Domingo, 18-Louis Picamoles, 19-Julien Bonnaire, 20-Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 21-Florian Fritz, 22-Damien Traille.

Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia). Assistant referees: Nigel Owens and Tim Hayes (both Wales).

Sporting Life / Eurosport