England vs. Australia: Borthwick names same XV

Steve Borthwick has named an unchanged starting team for England’s match against Australia on Saturday with two changes on the bench.

England’s men’s team side into their second Test of November looking to bounce back from their 24-22 defeat to New Zealand last weekend. Borthwick has named the same group that started against the All Blacks with Henry Slade shifting to inside centre, and Ollie Lawrence moving to outside centre.

On the bench, he has drafted in Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ollie Sleightholme as England move from a six-two split between forwards and backs to a five-three combination.

Cowan-Dickie replaces Theo Dan as replacement hooker, while winger Sleightholme comes in for back-row Ben Curry. If Cowan-Dickie gets his chance from the bench then it will be his first England appearance in two years.

England will look for a key victory on Saturday at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, having lost four of their last five Tests.

“Facing Australia is always a massive challenge, and we’ll work diligently this week to ensure we’re physically and tactically prepared to take on the Wallabies,” Borthwick said. “The passion and energy from the crowd at Allianz Stadium last weekend was absolutely brilliant, from the opening whistle to the final moments, and we can’t wait to be back at home this Saturday.”

England:

George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Tommy Freeman, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer; Ellis Genge, Jamie George (captain), Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry, Ben Earl.

Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Dan Cole, Nick Isiekwe, Alex Dombrandt, Harry Randall, George Ford, Ollie Sleightholme

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