England team: Steve Borthwick resists Henry Pollock temptation as key men return for Springboks showdown
England captain Jamie George and head coach Steve Borthwick.
England head coach Steve Borthwick has resisted the urge to start Henry Pollock against the Springboks, with the Northampton Saints man named on the bench.
Pollock had been talked about as a possible starter for England in their clash at Ellis Park, following a Player of the Match display in the PREM Rugby final, but Borthwick has opted for more experience in his back-row with Ben Earl, Tom Curry and Ollie Chessum named in the run-on group.
Elsewhere, Jamie George will captain the side from hooker, after taking over for the rested Maro Itoje ahead of the Nations Championship.
Steve Borthwick names England team to face Springboks
England also welcome back some key individuals into the starting group, with the likes of George Furbank, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and George Martin back in action following lengthy Test absences.
The aforementioned Furbank and Feyi-Waboso feature in an exciting back-three alongside Cadan Murley, who gets the nod over hotshot Noah Caluori. Tommy Freeman and Seb Atkinson continue their centre partnership from the end of the Six Nations, while Fin Smith features alongside Jack van Poortvliet in the halves.
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As mentioned above, Earl, Curry and Chessum start in the back-row, with the returning Martin featuring alongside Alex Coles in the locks. Joe Heyes, captain George and Ellis Genge form a familiar front-row unit.
Borthwick has also kept with his 6:2 split on the bench, with Pollock joined by Luke Cowan-Dickie, Beno Obano, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Charlie Ewels, Guy Pepper, Alex Mitchell and Marcus Smith on the replacements list.
Commenting on his selection, the head coach said: “Playing South Africa at Ellis Park is one of the great Tests in world rugby and an opportunity we’re excited to embrace.
“We’ve prepared well since we arrived here last week and I sense a real excitement within the squad to get our Nations Championship campaign underway.”
England team v Springboks in full
England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 George Martin, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Marcus Smith
Date: Saturday, 4 July, 2026
Venue: Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 17:40 (local), 16:40 (UK), 17:40 (France), 17:40 (South Africa), 01:40 (5 July, AEST), 03:40 (5 July, New Zealand), 12:40 (Argentina), 00:40 (5 July, JST), 11:40 (EDT)
Referee: James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (IRFU), Pierre Brousset (FFR)
TMO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
FPRO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
Broadcasters: ITV (United Kingdom), TF1 (France), Virgin Media Television (Republic of Ireland), Sky Italia (Italy), Wowow (Japan), Sky Sport (New Zealand), Nine Network / Stan Sport (Australia), SuperSport (South Africa)
