England have been devising a gameplan to combat French time-wasting and run Les Bleus off their feet.

France are expected to lose the fitness battle at Twickenham, with Joe Marler even claiming they will have a ‘coffee, macaroon and cigarette’ before the match.

Their heavyweight side average just 30 minutes of ball-in-play per game and Eddie Jones is looking to hit them with the fatigue factor.

Eddie Jones wants his England side to take advantage of their superior fitness

‘They kick the ball out a lot and have long stoppages before scrum so it’s hard to get pace in the game against them,’ said Jones, who watched France blow a 16-point half-time lead against Wales.

‘The way the game is being refereed now, increasingly we’re getting longer stoppages in the game which I don’t think is for the healthiness of the game. 

‘There’s a couple of ways we can get a bit of pace in the game on Sunday and we’ll investigate those. We have to have fatigue in the game.’ 

Against Ireland last week, England injected tempo with special plays such as Jamie George’s overthrown lineout to Manu Tuilagi inside the first minute.

Manu Tuilagi was involved in a quick play designed to up the tempo against Ireland

There could also be orders to take quick tap-and-go penalties and for Ben Youngs to provide fast service from the breakdown for Owen Farrell.

‘There will always be times where France get what they want at times but we have got to make sure when we are in control of the tempo and pace that we play,’ said Farrell.

‘Of course we want to play at a fast pace because we think that is when we are at our best.’ Lock Courtney Lawes added: ‘We have a much more mobile and probably fitter pack, so we want to use that to our advantage. France like a bit of rest.

‘If it’s their lineout they can take the time, or put people down in terms of injury, that kind of stuff. Tie their shoelaces. They will want to have a slower game and short, sharp bursts, while we will want to get plenty of tempo.’

Make a list of all the emotions you might feel if you captained your country to glory at a World Cup.

Ecstasy, of course. Joy, most definitely. Pride. Honour. Fulfilment. Vindication that all the sacrifice was worth it.

How about nothing at all? Just emptiness.

Hugo Lloris revealed he ‘was completely empty in his body and in my mind’ after winning the World Cup

Hugo Lloris became just the 21st man in history to captain his country to World Cup triumph after France’s victory in Russia last summer. Yet while the nation was in celebration, their captain was in bed.

‘I was completely empty in my body and in my mind,’ said Lloris. ‘I needed a day to stay in bed and just stop. It’s a long tournament. It demands a lot of energy. And a lot of emotion. You try to enjoy your holiday and then the new season begins. Maybe when I retire, I will think a different way.’ 

He doesn’t care too much about the winner’s medal – just ‘a material thing’ – but admits, emptiness aside, that the achievement is unparalleled.

Lloris described France’s World Cup success as being the ‘consecration’ of his career

‘It’s the consecration of your career. We put a stamp on France national team history and for the rest of our lives. That is something huge.’ The difficult task is how to put that sacred moment aside for the next challenge, especially when the previous one has taken so much from you.

‘It’s not easy,’ concedes Lloris. ‘For all the French players, we needed more time to find a new rhythm.’ Perhaps that’s why Lloris endured a difficult start to this season. Some sloppy early performances for Tottenham, a thigh injury, and the dark moment of a drink-driving fine and ban, an experience Lloris says now ‘belongs to the past’.

To the present, then. Lloris admits success is addictive. And, with Spurs, Lloris still has a chance of tasting more. They remain in this Premier League title race – just – even if an unfancied third horse in an apparent two-colt charge. They are out of both domestic cups but the knockout stages of the Champions League beckon.

‘When you get this taste you want to renew it again,’ he says. ‘Success is very difficult in football. You need to be in the right place, at the right moment. You need a bit of luck. You need talent. It’s not easy but if all the players involved in the squad have the same ambition it can happen.’ 

Lloris admitted that Tottenham need more time to establish a reputation of winning trophies

More questions. Is Tottenham the right place? Is this the right time? Do Spurs and Mauricio Pochettino, who has said that fourth place is more important than a trophy, share the same ambition?

‘We are Tottenham and we have the humility to say that in a different club, a bigger institution, they are used to winning – they won in the past, they win today and they will win tomorrow – because of the heaviness of the institution. When you wear the jersey of some clubs, you have this pressure every day.

‘It’s not the case in Tottenham. There is a great history, it’s a great club. But it’s not the type of club that used to win every year. It needs more time.’ 

A frank admission, if an accurate one. No league title for Spurs since 1961.. No FA Cup since 1991. One League Cup in 20 years.

Lloris says that Tottenham have changed considerably since he joined the club

But Lloris says Tottenham has changed since he arrived in 2012. Back then, Spurs were a club who sold. Luka Modric had left for Real Madrid just days before Lloris’s arrival. Gareth Bale would follow a year later.

Now, it feels different. Harry Kane is still there. Dele Alli is still there. Lloris is still there. Same players, different Spurs?

‘For me it is quite simple: there is a project with the manager, you either like it or you don’t. If you don’t like it, you move to another place. If I am here it’s because I like to be involved and I believe in my team-mates, the club and my manager.

‘We will see what will happen in the future but I think everything here is made for the players to improve and to be in a place to compete for trophies.’

Social media backing from Jamie Vardy, Didier Drogba and Gary Lineker has boosted the spirits of imprisoned Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, according to the former Crystal Palace player campaigning for his release.

Yet the physical health of al-Araibi, who is detained in Thailand and who has also been supported by Vardy’s wife, Rebekah, and Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini, is deteriorating as he faces another two months of imprisonment and the prospect of a return to Bahrain, where he fears torture.

Craig Foster, the former Australia national team captain, Portsmouth and Palace midfielder, visited al-Araibi in his Thai prison on Thursday, where human rights campaigners says he is illegally detained due to his refugee status in Australia.

Hakeem al-Araibi faces two months of imprisonment and the prospect of a return to Bahrain

‘He is extremely low but incredibly buoyed when I told him about Didier Drogba, Gary Lineker, Giorgio Chiellini and Jamie Vardy,’ said Foster. ‘He was ecstatic. His physical and emotional condition is deteriorating but to see his reaction when I told him about these legendary players standing up for him, brought a smile to my face.

‘For him to know that at the very highest level of the game, players are standing up for him, you can’t overestimate how much strength and heart that gives him. It was the only time I saw him smile from the heart.’

Al-Araibi fled Bahrain but was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in absentia for alleged vandalism during the 2012 Arab Spring anti-government. The Bahrain international was one of a number of the national team arrested at the time. At the time of his alleged offence, he was playing in a televised match.

He is rebuilding his life in Australia but was on honeymoon in Thailand when he was detained, after Bahrain alerted Interpol. A court hearing last week refused him bail and set a date for a hearing to decide whether he should be returned to Bahrain, despite efforts from the Australian government and football community to have him released.

FIFA have expressed support for his cause with statement calling on his return to Australia. ‘This situation should not have arisen… since Mr al-Araibi now lives and works and plays as a professional footballer in Australia, where he has been accorded refugee status,’ said FIFA.

Foster is now a TV presenter for Australian broadcasters SBS but was a former chief executive of the Australian Professional Footballers’ Association and is now leading the campaign for al-Araibi. He wants FIFA to sanction the Thai Football Association as he says that they are in breach of Asian Football Confederation and FIFA constitutions, which call for the protection of human rights.

‘We’re calling on FIFA and the AFC immediately to apply the first level of sanctions on Thailand, which would be to disallow any international or Asian Champions League matches in Bahrain because clearly refugee players are not safe travelling through the country,’ he said.