Australia vs England teams: George Ford dropped as Owen Farrell and Luther Burrell get the nod for first Test
Farrell returns to his natural fly-half role to accomodate Burrell, while Jack Nowell is a surprise omission on the wing
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Your support makes all the difference.George Ford has been dropped for England’s first Test against Australia after head coach Eddie Jones named Owen Farrell at fly-half for this Saturday’s encounter in Brisbane.
Ford appears to have paid the price for a poor season with Bath as well as struggling in England’s 27-13 victory over Wales at Twickenham last month, during which he missed six out of seven efforts at goal. Given that Farrell has excelled in leading Saracens to a Premiership and European Champions Cup double this season and his reliability from the kicking tee, Jones has elected to restore the 24-year-old to the No 10 shirt and hand the inside centre role to Luther Burrell.
Two other surprises feature in Jones’s starting line-up, with Maro Itoje remaining at lock to see Chris Robshaw retained at blindside flanker, and Jack Nowell dropped from the side as Marland Yarde starts on the wing.
"We have picked a side to win in Brisbane. As always selection was tight and naturally players are disappointed, but we've gone with a 23 that has a good mix of experience and youth," Jones said.
The pack is the same as the one that started the Six Nations victory over France in March that secured England’s first Grand Slam in 13 years, with Dylan Hartley leading an experienced forward contingent that boats 539 caps despite Itoje only making his debut in February.
With Joe Launchbury missing out on the starting XV, he takes a place among the replacements where he is joined by fellow lock Courtney Lawes, meaning there is no place for Harlequins back-row Jack Clifford despite his impressive outing against Wales.
England team to face Australia
15. Mike Brown
14. Anthony Watson
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Luther Burrell
11. Marland Yarde
10. Owen Farrell
9. Ben Youngs
1. Mako Vunipola
2. Dylan Hartley
3. Dan Cole
4. Maro Itoje
5. George Kruis
6. Chris Robshaw
7. James Haskell
8. Billy Vunipola
Replacements:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie
17. Matt Mullan
18. Paul Hill
19. Joe Launchbury
20. Courtney Lawes
21. Danny Care
22. George Ford
23. Jack Nowell
Burrell is chosen at inside centre ahead of Worcester-bound Ben Te’o, who had been earmarked for an England debut after receiving his first call up to the national squad but it left out of the matchday squad completely. Burrell only joined the squad as a late injury replacement for Manu Tuilagi, but the Northampton Saints centre will continue his run in the side having enjoyed a try-scoring performance against Wales after a year in the international wilderness.
Nowell is named on the replacements’ bench where he’s joined by Ford, meaning there is no room for Premiership Player of the Year Alex Goode.
After landing in Australia last week, Jones has quickly gone about his usual tough training methods in order to make the tourists feel at home in what will be a hostile environment at the Suncorp Stadium on Saturday. Having won just three of their 17 Tests Down Under, Jones knows the odds are not in England’s favour, but he believes that the expectation placed on the World Cup finalists could help take the pressure off the red rose.
"We aim to win every game we play and I am pleased with our preparation since we landed in Australia. The group have acclimatised well, trained hard and there's a buzz around the camp," Jones said.
"If you look at England's record in Australia it's pretty ordinary. We've only ever won three games in Australia so it's a great opportunity to put down a marker and create history.
"It's important we get off to a positive start and we'll arrive in Brisbane ready to play physical and aggressive rugby.
"We're excited to be playing against a strong Australian team in their back yard. The Wallabies are ranked second in the world and have the World Rugby coach of the year, so that's why they start as favourites. There's a lot of expectation on them to win the series convincingly.
"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 and one we're looking forward to meeting head on."
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