England’s set piece and defence are areas that are progressing nicely, says Eddie
ENGLAND co-captain Dylan Hartley will start on the bench against Australia tomorrow with Jamie George wearing the hooker’s jersey, while Manu Tuilagi is set for his first appearance for two years after also being named among the replacements.
After his try-scoring debut in the 35-15 victory over Japan last week, Joe Cokanasiga retains his place on the wing with injuries ruling out Chris Ashton and Jack Nowell. Jonny May is on the other wing.
The back row comprises of Sam Underhill, Brad Shields and No 8 Mark Wilson, with replacement Nathan Hughes set for his first appearance in the November Test series after returning from suspension.
Owen Farrell returns at flyhalf with Ben Te’o and Henry Slade outside him and George Ford on the bench.
“We’ve picked our best 23 for the Australia game,” said coach Eddie Jones, after making nine personnel and three positional changes to the side that beat Japan last Saturday.
“We know they have a unique style of attack so our ability to defend that is going to be important. We are continually working on our strengths which is our set piece and our defence and they are areas that are progressing nicely.”
British and Irish Lions hooker George has spent the last three years as backup to Hartley and though he started against Japan, yesterday’s selection looks a significant change in terms of Jones’ World Cup plans.
Tuilagi was initially named among the replacements for the opening game against the Springboks, but withdrew with a groin injury that has kept him on the sidelines since.
The powerful Leicester centre has played only a few minutes for England since his last start in 2014 after suffering a series of injuries, but Jones has long been an admirer.
Throughout the last few weeks Jones has been saying Tuilagi was said it was unlikely he would feature at Twickenham.
His line-breaking ability gives England an extra dimension in attack and, should he join Ben Te’o, back in at inside centre, it would produce a formidable midfield in terms of power.
Since losing to the Wallabies in the pool stage of the 2015 World Cup, England have won all five of the teams’ meetings, including a 3-0 series sweep in Australia in 2016.
That World Cup game was the Wallabies’ only success in their last five games against England at Twickenham. They arrive tomorrow at the end of one of their worst years for decades, with last week’s 26-7 victory over Italy taking their 2018 record to four wins from 12.
Tomorrow’s game will be the 50th meeting of the two teams, with England winning 23 and Australia 25.
The most famous of all of them took place 15 years ago to the day, when Jonny Wilkinson’s last-gasp drop goal won the World Cup final in Sydney as England became the first and still the only northern hemisphere nation to win the sport’s ultimate prize. | Reuters
England: 15 Elliot Daly,
14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Henry Slade,
12 Ben Te’o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell co-captain, 9 Ben Youngs,
8 Mark Wilson, 7 Sam Underhill,
6 Brad Shields, 5 Courtney Lawes,
4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler 1 Ben Moon, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ben Moon
Reserves: 16 Dylan Hartley co-captain, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Richard Wigglesworth,
22 George Ford, 23 Manu Tuilagi
Australia: 15-Israel Folau, 14-Dane Haylett-Petty, 13-Samu Kerevi, 12-Bernard Foley, 11-Jack Maddocks, 10-Matt To’omua, 9-Will Genia, 8-David Pocock, 7-Michael Hooper (captain), 6-Jack Dempsey, 5-Adam Coleman, 4-Izack Rodda, 3-Sekope Kepu, 2-Tolu Latu, 1-Scott Sio
Reserves: 16-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17-Jermaine Ainsley, 18-Allan Alaalatoa, 19-Rob Simmons, 20-Ned Hanigan, 21-Pete Samu, 22-Nick Phipps, 23-Sefa Naivalu.