Ahead of England’s first test match on Saturday against Australia in Brisbane head coach Eddie Jones has announced his starting XV – with Owen Farrell returning to a more familiar role.
Saracens star Farrell has been moved in from inside centre – where he prominently featured during the RBS Six Nations campaign, to fly-half ahead of Bath Rugby star George Ford, who has been dropped to the bench.
Luther Burrell meanwhile has been awarded the 12 jersey, while Marland Yarde will start on the wing with Jack Nowell dropping to the bench.
And despite rumours speculating that Chris Robshaw may be dropped to accommodate Saracens prodigy Maro Itoje in the back row Jones has opted to name an unchanged pack from the final Six Nations game against France.
Since taking over the England role Australian-born Jones has helped transform the side from Rugby World Cup embarrassments to Grand Slam winning champions.
However, he is faced with a tough challenge of becoming the first England coach to orchestrate a Test series win over Australia, as they have only ever managed three wins from 17 Test matches down under.
Speaking ahead of the game, as reported by the BBC, Jones said:
It’s important we get off to a positive start and we’ll arrive ready to play physical and aggressive rugby.
We have a young squad with an average age of 24, so we are still developing and improving. It’ll be a great challenge for us.
England team to face Australia:
Mike Brown; Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Luther Burrell, Marland Yarde; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Mako Vunipola, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Chris Robshaw, James Haskell, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements:
Luke Cowan-Dickie, Matt Mullan, Paul Hill, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Danny Care, George Ford, Jack Nowell.
