England Eddie Jones Bongi Mbonambi

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 07: England players Tom Curry, Manu Tuilagi and Ben Youngs sing the National Anthem prior to the 2020 Guinness Six Nations match between England and Wales at Twickenham. England. Photo: Shaun Botterill/AFP

Eddie Jones springs surprise for England’s Test against Australia

England coach Eddie Jones sprang a surprise when he named regular centre Manu Tuilagi on the wing for the clash with Australia.

England Eddie Jones Bongi Mbonambi

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 07: England players Tom Curry, Manu Tuilagi and Ben Youngs sing the National Anthem prior to the 2020 Guinness Six Nations match between England and Wales at Twickenham. England. Photo: Shaun Botterill/AFP

England coach Eddie Jones sprang a surprise when he named regular centre Manu Tuilagi on the wing for this weekend’s clash with Australia at Twickenham. 

Tuilagi’s only previous Test appearance in the position came on tour against New Zealand in 2014 and was never repeated by Stuart Lancaster, Jones’s predecessor as England coach.

Eddie Jones springs surprise

The move appeared motivated by Jones’s wish to accommodate fly-half Marcus Smith alongside England captain Owen Farrell who will play at inside centre.

Jones said that he had thought of deploying the duo as a 10-12 combination during last week’s match against Tonga.

His plans were thwarted when Smith was only deemed fit enough to be on the bench and Farrell was sidelined by what turned out to be a false positive test for the coronavirus, with utility back George Furbank at fly-half.

For the visit of Jones’ homeland team, however, the pair are set to start a match together for the first time, with Farrell making his 100th Test appearance, a tally that includes six caps for the British and Irish Lions, and Smith looks to build on a try-scoring effort during a 69-3 thrashing of Tonga after coming on as a replacement.

England will be looking to make it eight successive wins over the Wallabies under Jones, appointed after his native Australia helped knock tournament hosts England out of the 2015 World Cup.

“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 beat the world champions twice. As an Australian I know how much this game means,” said head coach Eddie Jones.

“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.”

In an unchanged forward pack from England’s 69-3 win over Tonga last weekend, Itoje is joined by lock Jonny Hill, hooker Jamie George and props Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler.

Courtney Lawes stays at blind-side flanker, Sam Underhill is open-side flanker and Tom Curry is at No. 8.

Bevan Rodd and Raffi Quirke could make their England debuts after being named as finishers. Jamie Blamire, Will Stuart, Charlie Ewels, Alex Dombrandt, Sam Simmonds and Max Malins make up the rest of the bench.

England will face the Springboks on 20 November.

England team vs Australia

England (15-1)

Freddie Steward; Manu Tuilagi, Henry Slade, Owen Farrell (capt), Jonny May; Marcus Smith, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Jonny Hill, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Ellis Genge

Replacements: Jamie Blamire, Bevan Rodd, Will Stuart, Charlie Ewels, Alex Dombrandt, Sam Simmonds, Raffi Quirke, Max Malins.

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