Chiefs duo on bench for England

By Mark Stevens
9/6/2016

Exeter Chiefs duo Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Nowell have both been named on the bench ahead of England’s opening Test match against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday (kick-off 11am BST, live on Sky Sports 1).

Nowell, who started each of England’s games during their Grand Slam campaign in the Six Nations, drops out of the starting line-up and is replaced by Harlequins’ Marland Yarde, who retains his place on the wing after a strong performance against Wales at Twickenham on May 29.

Elsewhere, Saracens’ Owen Farrell starts at fly-half, while Northampton’s Luther Burrell starts alongside him at inside centre. Burrell’s Saints club-mate Dylan Hartley will captain the visitors, who have a total of 539 international caps between them.

“We have picked a side to win in Brisbane,” said England head coach Eddie Jones. “As always selection was tight and naturally players are disappointed, but we’ve gone with a 23 that has a good mix of experience and youth.

“We aim to win every Test match we play and I am pleased with our preparation since we landed in Australia. The group have acclimatised well, trained hard and there’s a buzz around the camp.

“If you look at England’s record in Australia it’s pretty ordinary. We’ve only ever won three games in Australia so it’s a great opportunity to put down a marker and create history. It’s important we get off to a positive start and we’ll arrive in Brisbane ready to play physical and aggressive rugby.

“We’re excited to be playing against a strong Australian team in their backyard. The Wallabies are ranked second in the world and have the World Rugby coach of the year, so that’s why they start as favourites. There’s a lot of expectation on them to win the series convincingly.

“We have a young squad with an average age of 24 so we are still developing and improving. It’ll be a great challenge for us and one we’re looking forward to meeting head on.”

England match-day 23 to face Australia

15. Mike Brown (vice captain, Harlequins, 49 caps)

14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 21 caps)

13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 22 caps)

12. Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 14 caps)

11. Marland Yarde (Harlequins, 8 caps)

10. Owen Farrell (vice captain, Saracens, 40 caps)

9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 58 caps)

1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 32 caps)

2. Dylan Hartley (captain, Northampton Saints, 72 caps)

3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 62 caps)

4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 4 caps)

5. George Kruis (Saracens, 15 caps)

6. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, 48 caps)

7. James Haskell (Wasps, 68 caps)

8. Billy Vunipola (vice captain, Saracens, 26 caps)

 

Replacements

16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps)

17. Matt Mullan (Wasps 10 caps)

18. Paul Hill (Northampton Saints, 2 cap)

19. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 32 caps)

20. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 46 caps)

21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 59 caps)

22. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 23 caps)

23. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 15 caps)