The time is ripe for England and France to take over at the top of the world hierarchy - and it could all happen in the next few weeks, as this looks like a good time to take on the southern hemisphere teams. They will find the All Blacks are missing several key elements while South Africa and Australia will hold no terrors for either after last autumn's encounters.

My prediction is that England will do an autumn grand slam against the three southern hemisphere nations.

They have an 80% chance of beating the All Blacks at Twickenham, although it would be different in New Zealand, while France can see off South Africa and New Zealand, as well as Canada, if they play at the same tempo they managed in the Six Nations.

If you had to draw up a pecking order at present, I'd put England ahead with New Zealand, France and Australia all at the same level - bonnets blancs, blancs bonnets - as the French expression goes. But that may change in the coming weeks, and, although you can't say that this is a rehearsal for the World Cup because teams will be better prepared and these are one-off Tests, there will be a small psychological advantage for whoever comes out on top.

For Clive Woodward, the decisive factor this autumn is that his main men are all in one piece: Jonny Wilkinson, Martin Johnson, and Lawrence Dallaglio. The No8's return puts England back at full strength: he's a key part of Woodward's system, for his coolness under pressure, and his power when it comes to penetrating the defence.

As far as the new faces are concerned, Woodward will certainly bring on Marcel Garvey in at least one of the games. He'll let the other guys do the hard work then put Garvey on the pitch when he wants a bit of creative madness.

Garvey is one of those players who only knows himself where he is going when he gets the ball but has rare explosive power. Definitely a case of rockets in his boots.

I suspect that the other newcomer, James Forrester, will be edged out by Richard Hill and Dallaglio.

Woodward's only worry is the No10 back-up slot behind Wilkinson, and it's fair to say that he'll be lighting a candle somewhere to keep him free of injury.

Bernard Laporte will be doing the same on behalf of his captain Fabien Galthié, who was called the 'Zidane of French rugby' recently by the French federation president, Bernard Lapasset. Galthié has recently returned from injury, and is as big an influence on France as Wilkinson is on England, even if he doesn't tackle as hard.

Laporte has far more injury worries among his players than Woodward, and one of those has seen me regain my place with France. The call came at 8pm on Saturday night, almost two years to the day since I injured my achilles against Australia. The superstitious can read into that what they will. It will be great to get back among the French team but, bizarrely, I was too focused on the Leeds game at the time to be really excited. That will change this week, of course.

Imanol Harinordoquy is in the side, although three weeks ago Laporte didn't think he was in the frame, while Pieter de Villiers is just coming back but, as well as Clément Poitrenaud, Aurelien Rougerie is out for a long stretch with a throat injury. De la casse , as we say - one broken bone after another. But the way to look at it is that it's more important to be fit in October next year, rather than now.

Laporte also has a worry at fly-half, if a different one to Woodward. It's not that Gérald Merceron is in the Wilkinson league of irreplaceability. Francois Gelez is just behind, and is in fine fettle. It's more that Merceron has had no form for his club Montferrand this year.

I haven't seen him playing but his kicking is a shadow of what it was, if you believe the statistics. Then again, they may not give the total picture as Montferrand have signed an exclusive deal with a ball company who are supplying a totally different product compared with last year.

For us, these internationals are a massive test. New Zealand and South Africa are both sides we never used to defeat. We ended our southern hemisphere hoodoo last autumn against Australia and the Springboks and now it's time to prove that this wasn't a fluke.

For France, even more than for England, it's vital to win all three, or it will be a massive blow to our mental strength.