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Four changes in latest England team, including two in front row

(Photo by Alex Davidson/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

England boss Eddie Jones has named a team to face the Springboks this Saturday in London that has four changes from the starting XV that drew 25-all with the All Blacks last weekend. The head coach had mentioned after the New Zealand game that an improved set-piece performance would be needed for the match against the South Africans which is set to bring the curtain down on the Autumn Nations Series.

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That thinking has now fed into team selection with England opting to start loosehead Mako Vunipola and hooker Jamie George in the front row and draft Alex Coles in at blindside following his bench role last weekend. Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Simmonds all drop to the replacements.

Jones had already omitted back-rower Jack Willis, a used replacement last weekend, when he cut his squad from 36 to 26 on Tuesday evening, and that is the bench vacancy that Simmonds will now fill.   

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In the backline, Tommy Freeman has been chosen on the right wing in place of Jack Nowell – the sole change behind the scrum – and the demotion of Nowell has resulted in Guy Porter being excluded from the match day 23. Utility back Porter, loosehead Bevan Rodd and lock Hugh Tizard are the three players that Jones named in his reduced squad of 26 not included for Saturday.

This benching of Genge and Nowell will especially be a big deal for England as these players were two of the vice-captains that Jones had nominated at the start of the campaign. Jones said: “This is our last game of the autumn and our chance to continue building on the improvements we have made throughout the matches.

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“We have made steady progress from game to game, culminating in a pulsating draw against New Zealand. Now we have the chance to test ourselves against the might of the world champions. We are going out there to light the crowd up. The support at Twickenham was outstanding last week and we want to work hard on the pitch to make sure we have another atmosphere like that again on Saturday.”

England (vs Springboks, Saturday)
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 16 caps)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
13. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 49 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (C) (Saracens, 100 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 71 caps)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 16 caps)
9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps)
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 73 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 71 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 55 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 61 caps)
5. Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 18 caps)
6. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 44 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 67 caps)

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Replacements:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 40 caps)
17. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 42 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 24 caps)
19. David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
20. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 17 caps)
21. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 120 caps)
22. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 51 caps)
23. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 44 caps)

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J
JW 12 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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