Advertisement
England fly-half Owen Farrell
brizzy bash

Eddie Jones gives the nod to Burrell and Farrell for clash with Australia

George Ford drops to the bench for England’s first Test against Australia, with Owen Farrell returning to his usual position of fly-half.

OWEN FARRELL WILL replace George Ford at out-half when England face Australia in the first Test on Saturday, while Marland Yarde and Luther Burrell have also been named in the starting line-up.

Farrell played at inside centre during England’s successful Six Nations campaign, but returns to number 10 for the opening game of the three-match series against the Wallabies in Brisbane at the expense of Ford, who drops to the bench.

Wing Yarde gets the nod to start ahead of Jack Nowell after an impressive display in the victory over Wales at Twickenham last month.

Burrell was only called up for the tour down under when Manu Tuilagi was ruled out due to a hamstring injury, but the centre has been named in the 15 for the eagerly-awaited clash at Suncorp Stadium.

Maro Itoje was tipped to replace Chris Robshaw at blindside flanker, but will continue his lock pairing with Saracens team-mate George Kruis.

Former England captain Robshaw will start at six after playing an influential role in England’s Grand Slam triumph, while wing Mike Brown will win his 50th cap.

“We have picked a side to win in Brisbane,” said England head coach Eddie Jones. “As always selection was tight and naturally players are disappointed, but we’ve gone with a 23 that has a good mix of experience and youth.

“We aim to win every Test match we play and I am pleased with our preparation since we landed in Australia. The group have acclimatised well, trained hard and there’s a buzz around the camp.”

Centre Samu Kerevi, lock Rory Arnold and wing Dane Haylett-Petty will win their first Australia caps after being named in Michael Cheika’s starting line-up.

England (v Australia. Saturday, 11am)

15. Mike Brown
14. Anthony Watson
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Luther Burrell
11. Marland Yarde
10. Owen Farrell
9. Ben Youngs

1. Mako Vunipola
2. Dylan Hartley
3. Dan Cole
4. Maro Itoje
5. George Kruis
6. Chris Robshaw
7. James Haskell
8. Billy Vunipola.

Replacements:

16. Luke Cowan-Dickie
17. Matt Mullan
18. Paul Hill
19. Joe Launchbury
20. Courtney Lawes
21. Danny Care
22. George Ford
23. Jack Nowell

The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!

Ever-present McGrath back on South African soil with Ireland

Tallest Wallaby ever and Reds centre Kerevi among new caps for England Test

Your Voice
Readers Comments
10
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.