England rekindle George Ford and Owen Farrell axis for Samoa clash

Head coach Steve Borthwick has named his England team for their final Rugby World Cup pool match against Samoa.

For the first time under Borthwick, both Owen Farrell and George Ford have been named in the starting line-up, with the former captaining the side.

Ford-Farrell axis

Farrell is also the only player who retains a starting role from the 71-0 demolition of Chile, with Borthwick making 14 changes to his starting XV.

That means that Marcus Smith drops to the bench for England after starring at full-back, with Freddie Steward returning to the number 15 jumper. He is joined in the back three by Joe Marchant on the right wing and Jonny May on the left.

Farrell starts in the number 12 jumper with Manu Tuilagi at outside centre. Tuilagi earns his 56th Test cap on Saturday, but it will be his first against the country of his birth and the team his five brothers represented.

Alex Mitchell replaces Danny Care – who is amongst the replacements – at scrum-half, where he partners fly-half Ford.

Into the pack, Tom Curry returns following his suspensions and packs down in the number seven jumper with Ben Earl at eight and Courtney Lawes at six.

Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum are the starting locks as hooker Jamie George is flanked by props Ellis Genge (loosehead) and Dan Cole (tighthead).

Borthwick has stuck with a conventional 5-3 split in favour of the forwards on the bench. Hooker Theo Dan and props Joe Marler and Kyle Sinckler cover the front-row, while George Martin and Billy Vunipola cover the back-five.

Centre Ollie Lawrence joins Harlequins’ half-backs Care and Smith at the three backline replacements.

England have already qualified for the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup and have guaranteed top spot in Pool D.

England team v Samoa

England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Joe Marchant, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 George Martin, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Ollie Lawrence

Date: Saturday, October 7
Venue: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille
Kick-off: 17:45 local (16:45 BST, 15:45 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Chris Busby (IRFU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)

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