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Ruaridh McConnochie in line for England debut, Owen Farrell captains at fly-half

Eddie Jones names three players in the 23 who are not going to the World Cup

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Owen Farrell has praised uncapped Ruaridh McConnochie for his conduct and attitude in preparation for England's World Cup warm-up clash with Italy

Ruaridh McConnochie has again been named to start for England after two false starts, while Owen Farrell captains the team at fly-half.

The uncapped McConnochie was scheduled to start in a pair of World Cup warm-up fixtures against Wales in August, but pulled out of both games due to injury.

The Bath winger will finally make his debut when England face Italy in their final warm-up in Newcastle on Friday night, live on Sky Sports.

Farrell wears the No 10 jersey as George Ford drops to the bench, while Piers Francis replaces Farrell at inside centre. Francis is joined in the midfield by Joe Marchant, who starts despite not being named in England's 31-man squad for the World Cup.

Marchant is one of three players named in the England 23 who are not going to Japan, with Charlie Ewels and Matt Kvesic among the replacements.

BAGSHOT, ENGLAND - AUGUST 23: Eddie Jones the England head coach talks to Sam Underhill (L) and Tom Curry during the England captain's run at Pennyhill Park on August 23, 2019 in Bagshot, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Image: Eddie Jones has handed Tom Curry the No 6 jersey for the game against Italy while Sam Underhill misses out entirely

Traditional fetcher Tom Curry has been named at blindside flanker, while Mark Wilson plays openside in a team Eddie Jones described as "mix and match".

"We are delighted to be playing against Italy, one of our traditional Six Nations rivals and the game for us is another important step to develop our game fitness and game strategy," said Jones. "We have gone with a mix and match selection policy to develop our adaptability and the team's ability to cope with any situation.

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"We have had a solid training week in Treviso with hot conditions so we are looking forward to testing ourselves against Italy on Friday night. Then we hop on the plane and are ready to go to Japan."

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This is the first England Test match to be played at St James' Park, which hosted three Rugby World Cup fixtures in 2015.

"We are excited to be playing in Newcastle," said Jones. "We are playing at an iconic football ground and we know the area is an important one for rugby in the northern part of England. We are looking forward to seeing and playing in front of the fans."

England: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Joe Marler, 2 Jamie George, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Mark Wilson, 8 Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 George Ford, 23 Joe Cokanasiga.

Watch England vs Italy live on Sky Sports Action and Main Event from 7pm on Friday

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