England make one change for Autumn Nations Cup final

Adam Kyriacou
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England head coach Eddie Jones has made one change to his starting XV that will take on France in the Autumn Nations Cup final on Sunday.

That tweak to the team that beat Wales at Parc y Scarlets last weekend sees Anthony Watson come in at right wing. Jonny May continues at left wing and Elliot Daly is at full-back.

Captain Owen Farrell stays at inside centre and Henry Slade at outside centre, while George Ford is fly-half and Ben Youngs starts at scrum-half.

England’s forward pack sees Ellis Genge (loosehead prop), Kyle Sinckler (tighthead prop) and Jamie George (hooker) in the front-row. The tight five is completed with Maro Itoje and Joe Launchbury. Tom Curry (blindside) and Sam Underhill (openside) continue as flankers and Billy Vunipola, making his 50th start for England, is at number eight.

Elsewhere, Joe Marchant returns from injury and is named as a replacement alongside Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jonny Hill, Max Malins, Dan Robson and Will Stuart.

Chance to win a trophy

England reached the final after topping Pool A with wins over Wales, Ireland and Georgia and Jones is looking to finish the job at Twickenham this weekend.

“We’re really looking forward to this final, playing France and having another chance to win a trophy this autumn,” he said.

“We’d like to congratulate the tournament organisers on putting this on in difficult circumstances. Over the past two months the players have put in real effort, worked very hard on and off the pitch and have met the protocols and new ways of working.

“This has been another positive learning week with tough, hard training and we’re looking forward to getting on the pitch in front of our fans and playing a good game of rugby.”

England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Joe Launchbury, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Jonny Hill, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Max Malins, 23 Joe Marchant

Date: Sunday, December 6
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 14:00 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Frank Murphy (IRFU), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

 

England