If the Northampton midfielder Luther Burrell is to seal the deal on a World Cup place in Paris on Saturday night – and there is every reason to think he is a good step ahead of the Exeter youngster Henry Slade and the Gloucester captain Billy Twelvetrees in the race for the most hotly contested centre berth – he will have to do it the hard way. It is one thing impressing the right people at Test level. It is quite another doing it against the likes of Wesley Fofana and Mathieu Bastareaud. http://w.atch.me/ANIoM http://w.atch.me/ANIoM http://w.atch.me/ANIoM France have reacted to their ho-hum performance at Twickenham last weekend, when their 19-14 defeat was largely the product of Slade’s brilliance with ball in hand and the high-class finishing of the Bath wing Anthony Watson, by making almost as many personnel changes as their rivals. Two of the more significant developments are the reappearances of Fofana and Bastareaud, who constitute a threat way above that associated with their immediate predecessors, Alexandre Dumoulin and Rémi Lamerat. Burrell acknowledged the truth of it when he discussed his prospects. “They are two world-class centres, two of the best you will come across,” he said. “France also have Frédéric Michalak back at outside-half – a fantastic player – so it will be exciting for us. We can really test ourselves against that back line and see where we are. But I think we’re well prepped and we’re definitely ready to play. I believe we’ll be up to dealing with whatever they throw at us.”