Returning: Chris Ashton
Chris Ashton returns to the England starting line-up for Saturday's November International against Australia at Twickenham Stadium.
The Saracens wing takes over on the right from Charlie Sharples, who moves to the left in place of Ugo Monye.
Ashton's recall after a one-match suspension is the only change from the 23 which beat Fiji last Saturday.
"To select 23 from a squad of 30 plus who have trained so well, with such intensity and focus, was difficult but it's a good position to be in. The 'team first' mentality of all our squad has impressed us greatly," said England head coach Stuart Lancaster.
"We were pleased with lots of aspects of our performance last week, but we know we need to improve this week and, by having some consistency in selection, we allow those players to demonstrate we can step up to the next level against what will be a very tough Australian side."
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Charlie Sharples, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Mike Brown.
Date: Saturday, November 17
Kick-off: 14:30
Venue: Twickenham
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Mathieu Raynal (France)
Television match official: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Comments
Honestpom says...
Great for England that Romain Poite, one of the very best in the world at refereeing scrum time is in charge.
Posted 17:49 15th November 2012
APV1 says...
@ heart_of_oak - I still have a dodgy shoulder. But as they keep sticking me the 2nd row, it's not like I need it anyway...
Is Kenn Dodd allowed to manage a national team? After his Tax indiscretions and subsequent porridge, I think he's only allowed to manage at the lower levels. I think you're getting him confused with Willy Wonka and the Oompa-Loompas.
Posted 17:22 15th November 2012
TVaddict says...
@sirtidychris
Yeah, Wilson is on the bench, PR have just forgotten it again.
A fair team considering. I would have liked Launchbury to start as I thought he played really well when he came on, and I agree with people on here with having Morgan at 8. Although Brown is the form 15 in the country I'm prepared to trust Lancaster's experiment with Goode as another receiver for a few more games. It worked well last week, let's see how it holds up to a proper test, especially as the Aussies know it's coming.
I disagree with some about Farrell on the bench, I think it's a good idea as he covers 10,12 and 13, plus he's a different player to Flood. For me Burns is a substitution for Flood rather than Farrell. Saying that I really hope Twelvetrees, Burns and Morgan get some proper game time between now and the end of the 6 nations as they are all great talent that we need to nurture for the future. Saying that we have lots of young talent, I mean, consider this as a Saxons back line:
9) Simpson/Dickson
10) Burns/Ford
11) Yarde/Benjamin
12) Twelvetrees/Waldouck
13) Joseph/Daly/Lowe
14) Wade/Eastmond
15) Abendanon/May
That is a hell of an exciting second team back line!
Posted 16:04 15th November 2012
sanka69 says...
Didn't expect much different but Ben Morgan should be in the team - Waldrom did not impress much last week, you can see from a mile away that he is going to do that stutter step and go back inside, and should have passed the ball a bit more I thought.....should be good enough to beat the convicts anyway!
Posted 15:55 15th November 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
I'm not confident of victory, but having a French Ref over someone like Steve Walsh or Allan Rolland is reassuring. Plenty to fix though and hopefully the people who saying that England purposly didn't show too much against Fiji are right.
Posted 15:34 15th November 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
A very painful Autumn if we lose this one. Plus WC pools and Fance moving to 4th make this the most important game to win since WC.
Posted 14:52 15th November 2012
heart_of_oak says...
Duh.... I meant 'team', not 'time'.
Posted 13:58 15th November 2012
heart_of_oak says...
APV1, how can you be fit to play after you were thrown across the bar by 'She who must be obeyed' ? No shame in that by the way, she's taken on our entire front row and made mince meat out of the lot of 'em.
Now, as to this time, I'm not convinced by :
Ashton - childish temperament
Barritt - lack of creativity
Waldrom - not our best number 8, Morgan is better
Palmer - I'd prefer Lawes or Attwood, Lawes for sure if he's fit.
Having said all this, all the above will no doubt play blinders making this the 2nd time I'll have done a Guscott.
And of course, the entire team should be managed by Ken Dodd and the diddy men.
Posted 13:57 15th November 2012
sirtidychris says...
Spot on bar the absence of ben morgan. also once again cant we have 8 subs therefore one would imagine David Wilson is missing from the list again ?? please corect me if im wrong
Posted 13:06 15th November 2012
markpat says...
To stand a decent chance this weekend, Waldrom and Care really need to improve on last week's showing and we need to turn over a lot more ball, rather than relying on our prop to be our sole ball winner!
Posted 12:40 15th November 2012
jestnation says...
Pretty much the team we were expecting and probably the right one.
Would like to see All 4 forward replacements get an extended run in the second half. Perhaps with Robshaw moving to 8 with Wood and Launchbury on the flanks.
Despite Australia's problems in the Scrum I hope it's relatively even in the tight. We're going to learn very little about this sides ability to perform at the top table if we dominate set piece posession.
Posted 12:40 15th November 2012
heathy says...
Ashton back as expected as I though Ugo Monye didn't have that great a game (again). Gave a stupid fling away pass which lead to the Fiji try. Not good under pressure and a disappointment for a big quick guy. He's just never cracked it in an England shirt.
England should be favourites on this one and rightly so. However, we really do need to get settled in a damn sight faster than last week as Australia will not allow us the time to do this and be more clinical. Fiji could and should have been a couple of scores up in the first 20 minutes! Australia will not be so sloppy. We need a win (clearly) and a good performance to take to the South Africa game. England by 7 for me as Australia are for the taking. This is a game we can't let slip away. A win and a good performance will be another step in the right direction.
Posted 12:03 15th November 2012
APV1 says...
It'll do. Waldrom better play an absolute blinder to convince me that he deserves his place ahead of Morgan. Otherwise it's just personal preferences (such as Palmer) and I'm quite happy with that.
I'm sure SL et al will be ever-so pleased to get my approval, as it must mean so much to them..!
I do think we might need to consider starting Brown ahead of Goode for SA, depending how they fare this week. That might mean tweaking the bench a little, as Goode and Farrell on the same bench might not be ideal. I'm getting ahead of myself, I know, but it's food for thought whilst we watch.
"The 'team first' mentality of all our squad has impressed us greatly," - that's what us fans want to hear. Egos are necessary, but they must be kept in check. By that I mean that the players must have self-belief and a certain amount of swagger, but they must not let it get ahead of the team. And they must always respect their opposition, regardless of how pretty they are.
I shall be recording the match to watch on Saturday night after I've played myself (not WITH myself, you filthy sods!), so let's hope it's worth the wait!
Posted 11:34 15th November 2012
ben7 says...
is ben morgan fit? he should be at 8
Posted 11:28 15th November 2012
craigsman says...
Hmmm - no Courtney. Palmer needs to front up against Nathan Sharpe. Otherwise - the team I would have gone with.
Posted 10:52 15th November 2012
Propmelsey says...
Looks good from 1 to 10 but it goes a bit Atomic Kitten after that!! ..... Think we might be keeping it in the forwards all afternoon. No flair or guile in the backs for me ... but still more than enough of a team to beat Australia........
Posted 10:44 15th November 2012