Freddie Steward, Jack van Poortvliet, Ollie Sleightholme and Sam Underhill come into the England starting line-up to face South Africa; Steve Borthwick's side are seeking a first victory of the autumn after narrow defeats to New Zealand and Australia
Thursday 14 November 2024 17:16, UK
Freddie Steward and Jack van Poortvliet will return for England against South Africa on Saturday after Steve Borthwick made four changes to his starting XV to face the world champions.
Head coach Borthwick had gone with the same line-up for England's narrow defeats to New Zealand and Australia over the previous two weekends, but has made significant alterations as he seeks to end a four-match winless streak.
Steward comes in at full-back in place of George Furbank, while Van Poortvliet replaces Ben Spencer at scrum-half in two changes that appear to be tactical. Neither of the Leicester duo had been included in the matchday 23 for either of the previous two fixtures.
Winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and forward Tom Curry both miss out after suffering head injuries against Australia. Ollie Sleightholme is promoted from the bench to a starting role on the wing after scoring two tries against the Wallabies, while Sam Underhill comes into the back-row.
The only change to the England bench from last weekend is the addition of Sale Sharks winger Tom Roebuck, who is in line to make his second international appearance after featuring in Japan in June.
That means Marcus Smith continues at fly-half at Allianz Stadium with George Ford providing back-up from the bench.
"We're excited to challenge ourselves against the world's top-ranked team and back-to-back Rugby World Cup champions," Borthwick said.
"Test matches against South Africa are always thrilling contests, and I'm sure Saturday will be no exception."
Van Poortvliet has not featured for England since suffering an ankle ligament injury in a warm-up game ahead of last year's World Cup, but comes straight back into the starting XV as Harry Randall remains on the bench.
Steward was a key player during England's run to the semi-finals in Paris but was dropped during the Six Nations and has since made just one substitute appearance, against New Zealand in July.
England team to face South Africa: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (captain), 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Martin, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck.
Manie Libbok returns at fly-half for South Africa as the world champions make 12 changes to the side that beat Scotland last weekend.
Only forwards Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Eben Etzebeth remain from the starting XV that led the Springboks to a 32-15 victory at Murrayfield.
There is another notable alteration from head coach Rassie Erasmus in returning to a traditional 5-3 split between forwards and backs on his bench after going for a 7-1 split last weekend.
Prop Wilco Louw will make his first international appearance since 2021 having only received a late call up the squad following injuries.
Libbok started South Africa's World Cup semi-final victory over England last year in Paris but was substituted after just 30 minutes before replacement Handre Pollard led them to glory.
Despite his superb general play, Libbok's goal-kicking woes, which surfaced once more during the Springboks' triumphant Rugby Championship campaign this summer, have prevented him from maintaining a firm grip on the No 10 jersey.
"The turnaround between the Scotland and England Tests is short, so we had to be smart in our selection to enable us to field a fresh squad with only six days between two tough Test matches," Erasmus said.
"It obviously has a knock-on in effect in the sense that we've made 12 changes to the starting line-up, but we have been rotating our squad all season."
South Africa team to face England: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Elrigh Louw, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Lukhanyo Am.
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