Jones keeps faith with his big guns despite poor start

JAMIE GEORGE and Mark Wilson will return to the England starting line-up to face Wales in the only two changes from the side which defeated Italy two weeks ago.

George (right) was dropped to the bench in the wake of England’s opening weekend loss to Scotland and replaced by Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Despite Cowan-Dickie having arguably his best display in an England jersey, the pair have swapped positions once more in the only unforced alteration from the side that comfortably defeated the Italians 41-18 at Twickenham to get their Six

Nations title defence back on track. Courtney Lawes, meanwhile, comes out of the match-day 22 altogether after picking up a currently unspecified injury in training yesterday which has ruled him out of selection altogether.

In the wake of Lawes’s absence, Wilson returns having missed out on the squad for the preceding match two weekends ago. The only other change is on the replacements’ bench as uncapped lock/back-row forward George Martin comes in, with Jack Willis now facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a nasty injury when he came on to score against the

Azzurri. Head coach Eddie Jones said: “Wales is a really special fixture and rivalry. There is a long history between the two nations and the game means a lot to both countries.

“We know that we’ll be up against a strong Welsh challenge on Saturday but we have worked really hard in training this week and have got a very team to face it.

“We want to show people what we are capable of, keep building our performances and the best is yet to come from this England team.”

Some of England’s most established stars have come under criticism for their performances against both Scotland and Italy, most notably captain Owen Farrell and No8 Billy Vunipola, both of whom have had a lack of game time at club level with Championship side Saracens.

But Farrell, who shifted from fly-half against Scotland to outside centre against Italy to make way for George Ford, retains his place as expected and will once again lead the side at the Principality Stadium.

And Jones has also opted to keep faith with Vunipola at the base of the scrum, despite two below-average outings from one of England’s most reliable players in the past two games.

Elsewhere in the side to face Wales at Principality Stadium, Elliot Daly will make his 50th England appearance at full-back, having made his debut during the 2016 Six Nations.