Number eight Nick Easter has warned England are not about buck the trend and throw caution to the wind when they take on Grand Slam hunting France at the weekend.

Boss Martin Johnson’s men were held to an unimaginative 15-15 draw with Scotland at the weekend to end hopes of claiming the Six Nations championship title in Paris.

Easter, joined in the starting line-up by Danny Care, has good memories of recent trips to Paris having helped Quins to a thrilling Heineken Cup win over Stade Francais last season and enjoyed a World Cup semi-final win over Les Blues at the Stade de France in 2007.

France have been the stand out side of this season’s championship, and the Quins back row star insists England must concentrate on their defence if they are to secure a surprise win.

“If you want to win your away games you have got to stop them playing. Your defence has got to be spot on to give yourself a chance,” he said.

“We’ve got to do that from the word go, we can’t afford to wait for 20 minutes to see what they are going to do.

“It is going to be very hard. Their defence as been excellent and we all know what they are capable of with the ball in hand.

“We’ve got to work hard to stop the ball getting to their back three runners and then take things from there.”

Quins team mate Ugo Monye will miss the trip after he left the Murrayfield pitch on a spinal board following a sickening clash of heads with Scottish back row Kelly Brown.

Easter has backed replacement Chris Ashton to shine on his international debut, but he admits Monye’s absence remains is a blow.

“Full credit to the doctors they did a tremendous job on Ugo and luckily there was no lasting damage,” he added.

“It was bad luck for him, but you can’t let it affect you on the field of play. It is one of those things and you have just got to get on with it,” he added.

“It is a big loss, but it is a great opportunity for Chris and hopefully he can continue the try scoring form that has got him his chance.”

*Nick Easter was taking part in an England Rugby team appearance in support of RBS RugbyForce, the scheme that can help your local rugby club to improve its facilities.

To register your club for the official RBS RugbyForce weekend on June 5-6, visit www.rbs6nations.com/rugbyforce.