France Francois Trinh-Duc
France fly-half François Trinh-Duc at a training session in preparation to face England. Photograph: Charles Platiau/Reuters

When André Haget played at fly-half for France in the 1950s, it was said that while his father walked on air, his mother trembled. It is a position that in recent years has caused many French supporters to quiver, one imperfect 10 after another.

François Trinh-Duc will partner Morgan Parra at Twickenham on Saturday, and yet just over a year ago the pair were rivals for the No10 jersey. The then France coach, Marc Lièvremont, caused considerable surprise when he dropped Trinh-Duc to play Parra, a scrum-half throughout his senior career, at fly-half in the World Cup pool game against New Zealand in 2011.

His successor, Philippe Saint-André, opted for Frédéric Michalak at No10 for six consecutive matches from June, having dropped Trinh-Duc even though Michalak was operating at scrum-half for Toulon, partnering Jonny Wilkinson. Saint-André has abandoned the ploy for now after the home defeat by Wales in the last round, when Michalak struggled to deal with slow ball and a blitz defence. But whereas other countries see the two half-back positions as distinct, there is more of a blurring in France, and not just because many nines, such as Parra, are goal-kickers. When France want a tactician at fly-half they are more likely to look to the No9 role, explaining in part why Trinh-Duc has suffered in recent times.

Since France became a force in international rugby from the 1950s, their generals have played at scrum-half, starting with Pierre Lacroix and taking in Max Barrau, Jacques Fouroux, Jérôme Gallion, Pierre Berbizier, and Fabien Galthié. Between 1968 and 1974, four different scrum-halves captained Les Bleus.

Which is not to say that France's fly-halves have been muted tactically, but they have not, unlike Fouroux, been compared to Napoleon: players such as Guy Camberabero, and later his son, Didier, Jean-Pierre Romeu, Jean-Patrick Lescarboura, Thierry Lacroix and Christophe Lamaison were match-winners, while in the 1920s Yves du Manoir made such an impact in his eight-cap career that he had both a stadium (Racing Métro's in Paris) and a tournament named after him. The Challenge Yves du Manoir, which became a victim of the move to professionalism in 2003 as it cluttered the fixture calendar, was dedicated to the spirit of open play. His flamboyance on the pitch helped the words French and flair become synonymous.

Now while many French clubs trawl the world for fly-halves – Wilkinson, Juan Martín Hernández, James Hook, Brock James, Luke McAllister, Paul Warwick, David Kirkpatrick, Gavin Hume and Felipe Contepomi operate in the Top 14, with Jonathan Sexton set to join Racing Métro next season – most of the scrum-halves are French.

Fewer than half the registered fly-halves in the Top 14 are French, 19 out of 39, and many of them are third choice. In contrast, 29 of the 35 scrum-halves are local and so while Hook is the norm, his Wales half-back colleague Mike Phillips, who is in his second season at Bayonne, is an exception.

"The French do see nine and 10 as interchangeable," says Hook, who is in the second of a three-year contract with Perpignan. "When I am away with Wales, Perpignan use a scrum-half to replace me because he takes the goal kicks. Dimitri Yachvili at Biarritz is a typical French 9, not just as a controller but as a points scorer.

"There are a number of talented outside-halves in France, most of them young and emerging, such as the 21-year-old at Stade Français, Jules Plisson. You could say that the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and me are cutting down the options of Philippe Saint-André, but I rate François Trinh-Duc highly and I also have a lot of time for Frédéric Michalak. I did feel for him during Wales's game in Paris: he was receiving a lot of slow ball and I am not sure any outside-half would have made a positive impact on the game, but he plays his club rugby at scrum-half and it is difficult switching positions.

"I know from experience how hard that is. Most of my caps at outside-half for Wales came when I was playing in the centre or at full-back for Ospreys and outside-half is such a demanding position, one in which you are always involved in the game, that you need a run of games in the position to gain fluency. Michalak has taken a lot of unfair criticism: France's problems this month have gone far deeper than who has been wearing the outside-half jersey. They have changed more than half their team for Twickenham and it would be just like them to put on a display."

Saint-André has promised to revive the spirit of Du Manoir and restore flair to France's game but matches in the Top 14 tend to be attritional, with emphasis on set pieces and mauling. Wales reckon that Phillips only passes the ball on average for Bayonne one-third of the times that he does in the red of his country.

"I have learned a lot in Perpignan," says Hook. "When I was in Wales, I was criticised for a lack of communication and not playing tactically, but I would like to think I have shown those observations were misplaced. There is an emphasis in France on putting opponents under pressure, but at Perpignan we are encouraged to take risks. It is a question of judging when the time is right."

Trinh-Duc has enjoyed a strong season at Montpellier, who lie fifth in the Top 14 and have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. "François is a major talent," says Galthié, his club coach, who will not be trembling come Saturday evening. "It is right that France have picked him against England: I do not know where Montpellier would be without him."