England boss Martin Johnson does not believe that starting both Jonny Wilkinson and Toby Flood in the same team is not a gamble and gives the team greater options.

Flood has been chosen ahead of Shontayne Hape at inside centre to face France this weekend as an insurance policy with Mike Tindall not 100% fit.

"It's not a gamble. You always put a lot of thought into your selections, no more so than when you're in a World Cup quarter-final," Johnson said.

"It's one of the options we've got. I think Mike and Manu [Tuilagi] have played well together. If we had to play Shontayne; there's always an argument to play him.

"It does give us some different things that we can do on the field when we play [Flood and Wilkinson]."

England face France on Saturday, with the game starting 8.30am UK time.