England vs New Zealand: George Ford starts alongside Owen Farrell as Eddie Jones shuffles pack for All Blacks

The two childhood friends have been trusted to lead the line for England at the expense of Henry Slade

Eddie Jones will rip up his England midfield once again to restore George Ford at fly-half and reunite him with Owen Farrell to face New Zealand on Saturday, and will give Jonny May every chance to prove his fitness for the Rugby World Cup semi-final.

Ford was dramatically dropped for the quarter-final victory over Australia as Farrell moved to fly-half and produced his best performance of the tournament to date, but the two childhood friends have been trusted to lead the line for England at the expense of Henry Slade.

Centre Slade pays the price for his mistakes against the Wallabies, although he did also contribute heavily to both of Jonny May’s tries.

Ford’s return to the line-up reinforces the belief that he was dropped last weekend due to the threat of Australian centre Samu Kerevi, but with New Zealand expected to select Anton Lienert-Brown and Jack Goodhue in the centre – two players who are more technically gifted than the batter-the-door-down approach of Kerevi – Jones believes Ford and Farrell will provide the key to picking the All Blacks apart.

Jones admitted after last weekend’s victory that the Ford-Farrell partnership remains at the forefront of his mind, having utilised the pairing for the wins over Tonga and Argentina in the pool stage as well as the record 57-15 win over Ireland in the World Cup warm-ups.

“Well 25 years ago we used to play with two stand-offs, one chunky and one slender and they were a great complement to each other, so I don’t think it’s a new thing in the game,” Jones said. “You look back at the great Crusaders side [of the Noughties] and they had Dan Carter and Aaron Mauger playing together, so I think it just happens that the game evolves and at certain times it’s useful – particularly the way the game is at the moment.

“You saw the amount of contest at the breakdown today, it’s hard to get fast ball so your ability to find space through having two guys who have got great vision is certainly an advantage.

“Whether Owen plays 10 next week we’re not sure. He doesn’t know, and at this stage we don’t know, but we’ll make a decision.”

Electric wing May is also expected to be named in the starting line-up on Thursday morning despite struggling throughout the week with a hamstring injury. The Leicester Tigers back is England’s joint top try-scorer at the World Cup, having scored against Argentina as well as his double last weekend, and although he was contained to a sprinting session on Wednesday, his worth to Jones’s plans means he will be given until the last minute to prove his fitness.

Should May fail to recover in time, Joe Cokanasiga is expected to be handed a shock recall, with doubts remaining over Jack Nowell’s ability to start the semi-final given his extensive injury issues over the last five months.

Tom Curry and Sam Underhill will be retained in the back row with Billy Vunipola, meaning that George Kruis will be brought back into the starting XV to strengthen England’s lineout after they were picked apart at the set-piece in last November’s 16-15 defeat by the All Blacks at Twickenham. Their two remaining injury concerns in Nowell and scrum-half Willi Heinz both trained fully on Wednesday and should be named in the matchday 23, with Jonathan Joseph expected to drop out.