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| Date: Saturday, 13 November Kick-off: 17:45 GMT Venue: Twickenham |
| Coverage: Live updates on the BBC Sport website and app |
Marcus Smith will start at fly-half for England against Australia on Saturday, with captain Owen Farrell shifting to inside centre.
Smith, 22, is making his third Test start, after guiding under-strength England teams to victory over the United States and Canada in July.
Centre Manu Tuilagi is on the wing despite only one start in the position in his previous 44 England caps.
Newcastle’s Adam Radwan drops out of the matchday squad to make way.
Uncapped Sale duo Raffi Quirke and Bevan Rodd are on a bench that includes both Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt and Exeter’s Sam Simmonds among six forwards.
England: Steward; Tuilagi, Slade, Farrell (capt) May; Smith, Youngs; Genge, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Hill, Lawes, Underhill, Curry.
Replacements: Blamire, Rodd, Stuart, Ewels, Dombrandt, Simmonds, Quirke, Malins.
‘They will want to take us’
“We know this will be a tough test for us,” said head coach Eddie Jones, whose team opened up their autumn campaign with a 69-3 thrashing of Tonga last weekend.
“It is probably hard for the English to understand how important this is for Australia, It doesn’t matter whether it is Olympics, Test cricket, rugby league, this is the game that defines a season.
“We Australians have a bit of an inferiority complex against the English and they will want to take us.”
England have won all seven matches against Australia during Jones’ time in charge, most recently beating the Wallabies 40-16 in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Australia’s last victory was the pool-stage win at Twickenham that ensured an early end to England’s 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign.
Smith set for biggest test of star credentials
Smith, a key part of Harlequins surge to the Premiership title last summer, has been tasked with sharpening England’s attacking edge.
The stakes and pressure are high after he was preferred to Leicester’s in-form George Ford, whose partnership with Farrell stretches back to the pair’s teenage years, for the autumn.
A minor leg injury disrupted Smith’s preparations for the Tonga game, but he capped an impressive second-half cameo with a try.
Jones, who warned Smith earlier in the week about off-pitch distractions, says he has been impressed by the fly-half’s even temperament and control, as much as any moments of magic.
“Marcus knows he has to build his game, but I have been really impressed with him since I started working with him on a daily basis since the summer,” said Jones.
“He is progressing in a nice way, but this is his biggest test, he hasn’t played a tier one country yet.”
Slimline Tuilagi takes to the wing
Earlier this week, England’s strength and conditioning coach Tom Tombleson revealed that Tuilagi’s body fat levels were lower and he was running faster than at any point since the start of his international career in 2011.
The 30-year-old credits his wife with helping him make his diet leaner, a change that has helped him feel less tired in the final quarter of games.
“We decided we would pick the best players and the players will mix and match on the field to their strengths,” said Jones about the unusual selection.
“He can handle 12, 13, 11, 14 – all those positions – with aplomb and he is in the best condition of his career.
“We might not need to worry too much about the high ball against Australia. If they do kick we have other blokes who are really good under the high ball.”
Tuilagi’s only other Test start on the wing was a 28-27 defeat by New Zealand in Dunedin in June 2014.
Australia undermined by front-row injuries
London Irish prop Ollie Hoskins, 28, is set to win his first Test cap after being called into the Wallabies squad for the first time earlier this week.
The 28-year-old, who left his native Perth for London in 2016, is named on the bench after concussions ruled out Allan Alaalatoa and Taniela Tupou.
James Slipper switches from his usual loosehead to start at tighthead for the first time in nine years, with 21-year-old Angus Bell on the other side of the front row.
Full-back Kurtley Beale, 32, makes his first Wallabies start since the World Cup defeat by England in 2019, while Nic White and James O’Connor continue as a half-back pairing after starting last weekend’s defeat by Scotland.
Australia: Beale; Kellaway, Ikitau, Paisami, Wright; O’Connor, White; Bell, Fainga’a, Slipper, Arnold, Rodda, Leota, Hooper, Valetini.
Replacements: Latu, Robertson, Hoskins, Skelton, Samu, McDermott, Lolesio, Perese.