ENGLAND coach Tony Smith is planning to include a host of new faces in his team to face France in Paris next month.

Smith has pledged to ring the changes following England’s disappointing performances in the World Cup, where they suffered a record defeat by Australia and lost twice to eventual winners New Zealand. He has also made it clear he does not intend to experiment for the international against the French on June 13, as he did in 2007.

“I’m certainly going to pick a very strong team,” he said. “It may have some different faces to what we’ve seen in the past. I’d like to see some fresh faces and give some experience to some people that may not have had a chance yet or may have had only a limited chance.”

Smith will give an indication of his plans tomorrow when the Rugby Football League unveil the first batch of names in the new elite national training squad, which was part of a seven-point plan emanating from the World Cup review.

The initial squad will include 17 players and be expanded throughout the season to between 25 and 30, although Smith will not restrict his selection for the France game to this squad.

He said: “Certainly if there is some feeling that maybe the chemistry wasn’t correct in the last tournament, I’ll need to find a team that does have that chemistry.

“I’ve got no choice but to try some other people and try some other chemistry and see which combinations of players work. It’s not experimental but I need to make sure there is a change because of previous history.”