What is this mission for England now that their title hopes have turned to dust?
Senior players have talked about spoiling France's Grand Slam party, but Eddie Jones disputed that view. 'It's about creating our own party,' he said.
There should be no festivities for finishing third in this Six Nations, which is the best return the national team can muster. Fourth place is more likely and fifth — the same dire outcome as last year — is still a possibility.
Eddie Jones not only wants to spoil France's party but create a celebration of England's own
But if the visitors somehow beat France, it would partially salvage another come-down campaign and, in the circumstances, England would be justified in letting the party run all week.
It is hard to imagine such a shock. In truth, this has the look of a damage-limitation exercise. Unless all rugby logic is turned upside-down, England can do no more than save face by making a game of it, just as they did against the Irish last weekend.
This match is likely to expose how much ground Jones's side have lost to Europe's other heavyweight oval-ball nation.
The last time these cross-Channel rivals collided in Paris, England were the northern hemisphere kingpins after their impressive charge to the World Cup final.
France are on the verge of a Grand Slam after an impressive transformation in recent years
How times have changed. In that 2020 instalment of Le Crunch, new, untried, unproven France beat an established, familiar England line-up and their respective graphs have been moving in different directions ever since.
Jones repeatedly argues that progress at Test level is 'not linear', but it has been for France under Fabien Galthie. He brought in a raft of young players, backed them and stuck with them.
There have been a few tweaks along the way, but the same core group has developed well, thanks to high-class coaching from a settled management team.
They have added players in a logical way. How very un-French. It is almost as if these teams have swapped historical identities.
Two years ago, France won that landmark game and they went on to finish second in the championship. They finished second again last year and now they stand on the verge of a clean sweep, for the first time in a dozen years.
French experimentation has taken place
