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By Mitch Phillips
LONDON :England coach Steve Borthwick has announced a virtually unchanged team to face Australia on Saturday, with just a positional switch in midfield and two changes to the replacements bench.
Henry Slade starts at inside centre, swapping places with Ollie Lawrence from Saturday’s 24-22 defeat to New Zealand. Ben Spencer, still seeking his first England win after seven games, gets his second start at scrumhalf.
Borthwick has reverted to a traditional 5-3 forwards/backs split on the bench, bringing in prolific Northampton winger Ollie Sleightholme instead of flanker Ben Curry, and Luke Cowan-Dickie instead of Theo Dan as hooker cover for captain Jamie George.
It is the second week in a row that Borthwick has chosen to name his team two days ahead of schedule, with Australia naming their team on Thursday.
Since losing to Australia at Twickenham in the 2015 World Cup pool stage, England have won 10 and lost one of their fixtures. The teams’ last Twickenham meeting was a 32-15 England win in 2021.
England team to play Australia on Saturday (15.10 GMT):
15. George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 12 caps)
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 7 caps)
13. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 28 caps)
12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 66 caps)
11. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 12 caps)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 36 caps)
9. Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby, 7 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 63 caps) – vice-captain
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 94 caps) – captain
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 42 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 85 caps) – vice-captain
5. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 16 caps)
6. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 8 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 54 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 34 caps) – vice-captain
Replacements:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 41 caps)
17. Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 3 caps)
18. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 116 caps)
19. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 12 caps)
20. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 18 caps)
21. Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 8 caps)
22. George Ford (Sale Sharks, 97 caps) – vice captain
23. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
