England suffer late injury blow that could affect game plan as star of first Test misses Eden Park finale
England head coach Steve Borthwick and full-back George Furbank, who misses the second All Blacks Test.
England will be without one of their stars from the first Test after George Furbank was ruled out of the Eden Park clash through injury.
The Northampton Saints full-back, who suffered a back spasm on Friday, has been excellent in a white shirt recently and produced a superb individual display in the 16-15 defeat in Dunedin.
Furbank has been replaced by Freddie Steward, who will play his first match in a white jersey since the second game of the 2024 Six Nations.
Dropped
Steve Borthwick surprised everyone by dropping Steward after the Leicester Tiger shone against Wales, but the head coach wanted a playmaker at the back as they began to change their style.
The 23-year-old was deemed to be less suited to the more expansive game plan Borthwick wanted to implement. It will therefore be interesting to see how much changes for the Red Rose this weekend with Steward now in situ.
All Blacks coach Scott Hansen was asked about whether their opponents would miss the threat provided by Furbank in attack.
“Possibly,” he responded, before saying: “But there is an opportunity to step up there. What we need to do is defend well and the white jerseys in front are the key bit, not so much who is in it.”
Hansen added: “With Freddie Steward at the back, we understand his strengths, he’s very strong in the air, a big composed boy.
“They will adjust and we possibly expect them to go in the air more. But they are all things we have acknowledged during the week. England are going to focus on what they do well and their DNA. Freddie Steward is a class full-back.”
‘Nothing really changes’
Borthwick could have brought in the uncapped Joe Carpenter, who is similarly good under the high ball but provides more running and creative threat from full-back than Steward.
However, it would have been a big call to start the inexperienced Carpenter in the cauldron of Eden Park, so understandably the head coach has gone for the tried and tested option.
“From our perspective as a team, nothing really changes,” Sam Underhill told BBC Sport.
“Their styles are different but their skill sets are also very similar. They are both very good at running the ball, both very good in the air and both have good kicking games.
“As a team, we have to trust ourselves to react well to it.”
The team
England (revised): 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Ollie Sleightholme
