England are missing a trick in not following France's lead and looking long-term towards the 2011 World Cup, according to Les Bleus defence coach David Ellis.
The two countries, who meet in an RBS 6 Nations Championship clash in Paris on Saturday, have approached the tournament with different mindsets.
While new France head coach Marc Lievremont is blooding plenty of raw talent in a bid to give them necessary Test experience for the years to come, England coach Brian Ashton has for the most part been happy to stick with his tried and tested.
Ellis, a Yorkshireman who has been part of France's backroom staff since 2001, reckons England are making a mistake in preoccupying themselves with the here and now.
"I am just disappointed that England are going to miss another opportunity to make changes," the 50-year-old said.
"With France, they are putting the youngsters in and not worrying about the consequences. With England, it's always, 'Is he good enough?'
"If he's good enough, he's old enough. They made that mistake after they won the World Cup in 2003 and regretted it in the build-up to the last World Cup.
"If the young players aren't there, then that would be a problem. But everyone knows they are there in England."
Ellis cites Danny Cipriani as the perfect example of England's conservatism in this issue.
The Wasps fly-half is being widely tipped as a star for the future, but the shackles are being kept on him while Ashton sticks with Jonny Wilkinson at number 10.
Cipriani will again be on the bench - for the third Six Nations game in a row - this weekend, and Ellis is stunned the youngster is being denied the opportunity to showcase his talents at Test level.
"Just look at Cipriani, he is a tremendous player," he added.
"Look what he is doing at Wasps. He's frightening - he's quick, he's clever. I am surprised they haven't started with him.
"Ground him in at full-back. Or if you want to put him at 10 and you are still worried about your kicking, put Jonny at 12.
"The English are so reliant on Jonny's ability to change a game with penalties and drop-goals. The force of old England was Jonny with Mike Catt next to him - why not Cipriani with Jonny next to him?
"Just let Cipriani loose. And I have worked with the likes of Ryan Lamb and James Simpson-Daniel at Gloucester - people like that should be brought out of the cupboard."
The respected Ellis was asked to stay on as defence coach even though France's technical staff was overhauled following the appointment of a new coaching set-up after the World Cup.
With Lievremont's Bleus adopting a more attacking strategy compared to the more conservative approach deployed by former incumbent Bernard Laporte, Ellis has had to take more of a back seat.
"You mustn't underestimate the work Bernard Laporte did in his eight years," Ellis said.
"He changed France from a very indisciplined and disorganised bunch to one of the most disciplined and best defensive teams in the world.
"Whatever the new coaches are doing, you aren't going to take that away. There is just more emphasis on attack.
"I don't know whether the players prefer that but it's more natural to the French. Maybe it should have happened earlier."
England squeezed past France 14-9 the last time they met - in the semi-final of the World Cup last year.
Les Bleus choked on that tension-filled night at the Stade de France, but Ellis insists revenge is not necessarily in the air in the build-up to this weekend.
"A lot of the players who played in the semi-final have retired," he said.
"And in that semi-final, England didn't win the game, France lost it. So there is no revenge, just regret.
"The intention this weekend is to go out and prove to everybody - the public and the players themselves - that on that particular day France got it wrong, and to put the result right.
"There is no revenge. With a game such as England against France, you don't need any added spice."
Teams:
France: C Heymans (Toulouse); A Rougerie (Clermont-Auvergne), D Marty (Perpignan), D Traille (Biarritz), V Clerc (Toulouse); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), M Parra (Bourgoin); L Faure (Sale), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), N Mas (Perpignan), L Nallet (Castres, capt), Pascal Pape (Stade Francais), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), J Bonnaire (Clermont-Auvergne), L Picamoles (Montpellier).
Replacements: W Servat, J-B Poux (both Toulouse), J Thion (Biarritz), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), D Yachvili (Biarritz), D Skrela (Stade Francais), A Floch (Clermont-Auvergne).
England: I Balshaw (Gloucester); P Sackey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), T Flood (Newcastle), L Vainikolo (Gloucester); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), M Regan (Bristol), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath), J Haskell (Wasps), M Lipman (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: L Mears (Bath), M Stevens (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), T Croft (Leicester), P Hodgson (London Irish), D Cipriani (Wasps), M Tait (Newcastle).
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