The start of a new Five Nations campaign is always something to savour but today's opener between France and England has all the makings of a classic.

The ingredients are all there. An old and fierce rivalry, a brand new stadium and two teams desperate to move on from their pre-Christmas struggles against southern hemisphere opposition.

On top of that, the match has already been billed as the championship decider. For that reason France, who won the grand slam last year, are treating it as a one-off match they must win before they can turn their thoughts to the 1999 World Cup.

The English, wanting to confirm the form they showed in a 26-26 draw against New Zealand in December, see it as another step on the road to Wales '99 although revenge for last season's Twickenham defeat is also a powerful motivator.

The French, still licking their wounds after a 52-10 mauling by the Springboks in November and Brive's loss to Bath in the European Cup final, have a new captain in hooker Raphael Ibanez, a new attitude and to a large extent a new team.

With a fresh hooker, number eight and half-back pairing, only full-back Jean-Luc Sadourny of what they regard as the key five positions has survived the axe.

Thomas Lievremont is the new number eight in only his second international, but the other members of the back five have all played in this key position, showing adaptability to the modern requisite for allround ability.

Behind him, Brive's Philippe Carbonneau links up with Thomas Castaignede of Castres for only the second time since the former Toulouse out-half, usually a centre for France, made his debut in the inaugural Latin Cup in Argentina in 1995.

"We think (Castaignede) has the vision and that he's capable of guiding our game with brio," French backs guru Pierre Villepreux said.

England certainly have cause to remember Castaignede. It was his late drop goal which sent them to an 18-15 defeat the last time they were in Paris. There will, however, be increased pressure on goalkicker Christophe Lamaison whose late penalty miss last weekend cost Brive the European Cup.

England have made just three changes - as opposed to France's seven - including the surprisingly quick return of Bath centre Jeremy Guscott for his 49th cap.

"If the atmosphere in Bordeaux was anything to go by, the French are crazy for rugby at the moment. It will be spine-tingling," Guscott said.

"If you add to that the fact that England are playing some pretty expansive stuff at the moment, you could say I'm looking forward to this game."