England face Georgia at Twickenham in their opening Autumn Nations Cup Test on Saturday (kick off 3pm). Wasps flanker Jack Willis is in for his debut, Ollie Lawrence for his first start, and there are no 'hybrid' player selections from Eddie Jones as rumours suggested there might have been
Thursday 12 November 2020 12:28, UK
Wasps flanker Jack Willis will make his England debut on Saturday against Georgia at Twickenham, having been named to start on the openside, while Worcester centre Ollie Lawrence will make his first Test start.
Elsewhere, for all the pre-match talk of head coach Eddie Jones deploying 'hybrid' players in the face of the strength of Georgia's pack, there are no players who have been shifted from the forwards to the backs, or vice versa. Even the bench is a conventional five/three split.
Within the backs, Elliot Daly returns from injury to start at full-back, Jonny May remains on the left wing and Jonathan Joseph has shifted out to the right wing.
Exeter's Henry Slade partners Lawrence in midfield, while the half-backs are the familiar pairing of skipper Owen Farrell and scrum-half centurion Ben Youngs.
In the forwards, the props have been changed as Leicester's Ellis Genge comes in at loosehead and Bath's Will Stuart comes in for his maiden Test start - Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler dropping to the bench.
Jamie George remains at hooker, one week on from picking up his 50th cap in Rome, while the second row sees Bath's Charlie Ewels start alongside Wasps' Joe Launchbury.
The back-row sees Maro Itoje shifted to blindside flanker, Willis on the openside and Billy Vunipola at No 8.
Among the replacements, Bristol's Max Malins will make his Test debut if he appears, while flankers Ben Earl and Tom Curry have both been listed - Itoje's presence at six meaning second row cover on the bench is not required.
"We've had a really good week of training," Jones said upon naming the squad.
"We know there are a lot of expectations on us and we've applied ourselves hard and put a lot of pressure on ourselves in the early part of this week.
"Georgia will be a tough opponent, so we have a team with some real power in midfield. We have a good mix of youth and experience across the squad and they are completely focused on putting in an excellent performance on Saturday.
"We're looking forward to being back at our home at Twickenham, we are humbled by the opportunity and want to give people a reason to smile during such a tough time for the country."
After hosting Georgia this weekend, England will welcome Ireland to Twickenham (November 21), before travelling to face Wales in Llanelli (November 28). They will then conclude their Autumn Nations Cup with a playoff Test against one of France, Scotland, Fiji or Italy at Twickenham (December 6).
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jonathan Joseph, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Charlie Ewels, 5 Joe Launchbury, 6 Maro Itoje, 7 Jack Willis, 8 Billy Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ben Earl, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Max Malins, 23 Joe Marchant.
