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England reshuffle front row in team to face All Blacks
By Ned Lester
Steve Borthwick has named the England team that will look to tackle New Zealand in the opening Test of their July Series on Saturday.
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The team features two changes from the side that beat Japan in Tokyo last month, with a front-row switch seeing Joe Marler and Will Stuart start alongside captain Jamie George.
Test rookies Fin Baxter and Ollie Sleightholme have been named on the bench, set for potential debuts under the roof in Dunedin.
“It doesn’t get more challenging than playing New Zealand at home, but it’s exactly where we want to be. We want to find out more about ourselves and test ourselves against one of the best teams in the world.
“Test rugby is a game of fine margins, so our mindset is going to be very important on Saturday. We’ll need to be mentally strong, play a tactically smart game and ensure we maintain our discipline.
“The Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin is a great venue with a quick surface, and the closed roof should make the atmosphere very special.”
England team to play New Zealand
15. George Furbank
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13. Henry Slade – vice-captain
12. Ollie Lawrence
11. Tommy Freeman
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10. Marcus Smith
1. Joe Marler – vice-captain
2. Jamie George – captain
3. Will Stuart
4. Maro Itoje – vice-captain
8. Ben Earl – vice-captain
Replacements
16. Theo Dan
17. Fin Baxter
18. Dan Cole
19. Alex Coles
20. Tom Curry
21. Ben Spencer
22. Fin Smith
23. Ollie Sleightholme
England can deliver strong set piece. Scrum has good experience and new guys combination (Cole on bench is handy).
George is a gun at lineout and there's Underhill who was a beast in Premiership final.
They have reason for confidence, look fwd to it.
Weak tight 5 IMO. If you look at every TOP side in the World, England are nowhere near.
Believe NZ will give them a good hiding.
Very surprising that Roebuck is outside the 23!
How many vice-captains does the team need?! smh