Fin Smith’s most-recent fly-half cameo came when he was introduced in the 64th minute in Dublin on Saturday.
England were 10 points adrift at the time but tries from Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman helped the visitors close the gap to a 27-22 final scoreline, ensuring a losing bonus point.
Since the start of 2023, England have lost nine of 11 Tests starting with Marcus Smith at 10, only beating Japan on two occasions.
The Harlequins star prefers fly-half but has been used several times by Borthwick as a full-back.
He was deployed at 15 in wins over Chile, Fiji and Argentina during the 2023 Rugby World Cup and played there for almost the entirety of England’s narrow 33-31 loss to France last season following a George Furbank injury.
Willis, whose brother Jack plays for Toulouse and is therefore ineligible for selection for England, has been rewarded for his fine Saracens form.
The 26-year-old will make his first Test start after a couple of replacement appearances.
England suffered their record home defeat the last time they hosted France in the Six Nations, losing 53-10 with Marcus Smith starting at fly-half ahead of Owen Farrell.
France, who thrashed Wales 43-0 in their opening match of this year’s tournament, named their team earlier on Thursday with fly-half Matthieu Jalibert and wing Damian Penaud coming into their starting XV.
