England attack coach Brian Smith, asked if he'd ever seen a backline player to compare in size with France's Mathieu Bastareaud, had to pluck an example from his native Australia.

"He's a big lad. Mal Meninga was of similar proportions."

Meninga was one of the greatest rugby league players ever to wear the Kangaroos shirt and is a fully-fledged Australian sporting icon.

By contrast Bastareaud, who is over 6ft tall (1.83 metres) and weighs nearly 113 kilos, will be winning only his second cap when France arrive at Twickenham for Sunday's Six Nations international against England.

The 20-year-old was a surprise choice when France coach Marc Lievremont called him up for his Test debut against Wales in Paris.

But he kept his place after impressing with some hard charging runs and crunching tackles in a 21-16 victory.

Former Wallabies and Ireland rugby union outside-half Smith, who subsequently played rugby league in Australia, was impressed by what he saw on show at the Stade de France.

"He's a big boy, he carries well," said Smith. "Defensively, he likes to bounce out of the line but sometimes you find with big athletes they move very well in a straight line.

"You certainly don't want to T-Bone him. You need to change your line off him. He's a handful but we've got talented ball carriers."

Smith added the inclusion of Stade Francais midfielder Bastareaud, a cousin of Arsenal and France footballer William Gallas, gave France more of a balance behind the scrum.

"The thing about that French side, he's a good foil. There's a lot of class around him.

"Yannick Jauzion (France's inside centre) is outstanding, (left wing) Cedric Heymans will organise the back three very well and they have an exciting pair of young halves (Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc).

"He's a nice foil for them," Smith added. "Defensively we are going to have to get to him and not give him too much space. But there are strengths and weaknesses when you've got an athlete that big."

However, Jo Maso, a talented France centre of the late 1960s and early 1970s who is now France's team manager, said there was more to Bastareaud than bulk.

"Everyone thinks he's just a line-breaker but he's more than that," Maso insisted. "He's like (New Zealand's) Ma'a Nonu, he has a lot of speed.

"He is a hard man to bring down because he has a low centre of gravity but he's also a guy who can bring the wings into the game."

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