England head coach Eddie Jones has named his 23-man squad to take on France in his team’s Six Nations opening game at the Stade de France this Sunday at 15 00.
As expected Jones has selected captain Owen Farrell at inside-centre, meaning George Ford takes the reins at fly-half.
While there is a surprise in the back-row with Courtney Lawes shifting to blindside-flanker as Tom Curry starts at No 8.
Among the squad there are also two uncapped players in George Furbank and Will Stuart, with the former on from the start while the latter takes a place among the bench.
Elsewhere in the front-row there is plenty of experience with Joe Marler and Kyle Sinckler either side of Saracen’s hooker Jamie George, while Maro Itoje is joined by Charlie Ewels in the second-row.
As mentioned above Lawes is at blindside-flanker, with Sam Underhill at openside and Curry finishes the pack from No 8.
Ben Youngs is set for his 96th cap at scrum-half alongside Ford at out-half, and they have Farrell and Manu Tuilagi outside them in the midfield pairing.
Elliot Daly slots in on the left-wing, with Jonny May on the right, in order to accommodate Furbank at full-back following the injury to Anthony Watson that was confirmed yesterday.
There is plenty of fire-power on the bench for Jones to call upon if needed with Luke Cowan-Dickie, George Kruis and Jonathan Joseph joining the likes of Stuart among the replacements.
Speaking ahead of the game Jones admitted he is happy with how his team have prepared and has warned France once more that England will head into the game hoping to blow their opponents away.
“It has been a massively exciting week for us. It is the start of the Guinness Six Nations, the best rugby tournament in the world. We have had a great preparation in Portugal with a quality training week this week. We have really worried about ourselves, getting ourselves right. We have picked a strong forward pack which is part of the England way and an exciting backline with young George Furbank playing his first Test at fullback. France can expect absolute brutality from England, we are going to go out there to make sure they understand what Test rugby is.It is about being brutal, it is about being physical and it is about dominating the set piece,” he said.
England head into the tournament as favourites following their run to the Rugby World Cup final last year. However, the young French team they are set to face will be hoping that England’s loss in that final along with the recent Saracen’s scandal will help them pull off a surprise on the opening weekend.
Check Out the Full 23-Man Squad Below.
Starting XV:
15 George Furbank (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
14 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps)
13 Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 40 caps)
12 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 79 caps) C
11 Elliot Daly (Saracens, 39 caps)
10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 65 caps)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 95 caps)
1 Joe Marler (Harlequins, 68 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 45 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 31 caps)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 34 caps)
5 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 12 caps)
6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 81 caps)
7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 15 caps)
8 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 19 caps)
Replacements:
16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 21 caps)
17 Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps)
18 Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
19 George Kruis (Saracens, 41 caps)
20 Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)
21 Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby, 9 caps)
22 Ollie Devoto (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap)
23 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 47 caps)
