Eddie Jones' selection for England vs Australia at Twickenham: Marcus Smith, Owen Farrell start together, with former at fly-half and latter at inside-centre; Manu Tuilagi starts on wing as Adam Radwan drops out; forwards remain unchanged; Bevan Rodd, Sam Simmonds, Max Malins onto bench
Thursday 11 November 2021 16:54, UK
Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell will start together for England in Saturday's autumn Test vs Australia, as Eddie Jones deploys the pair in a dual playmaking 10-12 axis.
Farrell, who missed last week's victory over Tonga in what has now been described as a 'false positive' Covid-19 result, returns to captain the side from inside-centre, with Smith starting at fly-half.
Manu Tuilagi makes a surprising positional switch to the wing, with Henry Slade remaining at outside-centre and Adam Radwan dropping out of the squad. It means Tuilagi starts on the wing in a Test for just the second time in his career, having previously started there against New Zealand in June 2014.
The forwards remain unchanged, though uncapped loosehead prop Bevan Rodd - called up this week ahead of Mako Vunipola after Joe Marler tested positive for Covid-19 - is among the replacements.
Exeter's Sam Simmonds, cut from the England reckoning last week, is brought onto the bench too as Jones opts for a 6/2 split of forwards to backs, holding Charlie Ewels, Alex Dombrandt and Simmonds back in reserve.
Uncapped scrum-half Raffi Quirke is also named as bench cover, while Max Malins returns to the England squad in the No 23 shirt.
In the starting XV, Freddie Steward and Jonny May complete the back-three with Tuilagi, Ben Youngs starts at scrum-half, while Ellis Genge, Jamie George and Kyle Sinckler are the front-row once more.
Maro Itoje, making his 50th Test appearance for England, partners Jonny Hill in the second row, while Tom Curry remains at No 8, with Courtney Lawes and Sam Underhill the flankers.
"We know this will be a tough test for us, we're playing against a team who have been together a while and who have beaten the world champions twice. As an Australian I know how much this game means," head coach Jones said on Thursday.
"We've had a really good week of preparation, we're looking to improve our performance this week and I think this side is building well."
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Manu Tuilagi, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Tom Curry.
Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Sam Simmonds, 22 Raffi Quirke, 23 Max Malins.
