Based on what?

The Saints pack this year hasnt been great in comparison to others, and even playing on the back of a beaten pack/slow ruck Roby has been outstanding yet again.

Interesting when you compare his season stats with Houghton (for example) who is no doubt higher up your pecking order for the England 9 shirt and touted as a MOS candidate:

Defending:
Houghton 1130/56 misses, 95% tackles made
Roby 962/31 misses, 97% tackles made

Attacking:
Houghton 230 carries, 1448 metres, 6.3m avg gain, 32 tackle busts, 3 clean breaks, 7 tries
Roby 294 carries, 2201 metres, 7.4m avg gain, 41 tackle busts, 7 clean breaks, 4 tries

Whilst Houghton has made more tackles, Roby still managed an impressive amount with less misses on average. With ball in hand, Roby is far better & offers far more than Houghton. When you bear in mind Houghton has played on the back of the best pack in SL (don't really recall seeing Hull's forward pack not on top many times this season) and their go forward I would have expected more with the ball from Houghton. Don't get me wrong I think Houghton is a very good player, but still not ahead of Roby (same opinion currently of Daryl Clark).

Imo the 2 England hookers should still be Hodgson and Roby interchanging

The France game should be used for the team to get used to playing with each other, run through game plan etc to prepare for the 4 Nations. What's the point in setting up the friendly & travelling to France only to field a load of fringe players?

Fully agree with Luke Gale though, I'd have him starting 7 going into this game & the 4 Nations, been great the last 2 years.

I only said some.

A mix of experience and youth, with a chance to look at some of our future players would be a better idea.
IF we go with our strongest 13/17, France would be blown away, which serves no purpose whatsoever. Therefore put some new/young players in
and see how they go.
Of course, if there are some debutantes who go well, they can either be selected for the 4N or, at the very least, put some pressure on some of the more established players.
Any decent coach should always have one eye on the future.

Could you really class playing France as a higher level to what he's been playing week in week out in Superleague though, I'd back most SL teams to beat France. Just because it's international footy doesn't mean the standards are any higher

France in France is a whole different experience to playing SL down the M62 corridor and if you read the rest of my post, this is precisely the reason for playing some young/new players.

The French national team would be more than a match for any SL side (assuming that they have something close to their first choice 13/17) and pulling on the national jersey will be a new experience for any players that are lucky enough to make their debut.

Also, regarding your disparaging comments about France, how do you compare them to Scotland, who will be one of Englands opponents in the 4N ??

Scotland should do relatively well, considering half the posters on here want the team full of second rates Australians that can't get into heir national team.