Sport

England make only one change for second test with All Blacks

18:02 pm on 11 July 2024

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England coach Steve Borthwick has named his team to play the All Blacks on Saturday night, making only one change to the starting XV that was narrowly defeated 16-15 in Dunedin last weekend.

Loosehead prop Fin Baxter starts his first game for England having made his debut off the bench at Forsyth Barr Stadium last Saturday, packing down in the front row with captain Jamie George at hooker and Will Stuart at tighthead.

At lock, Maro Itoje continues his partnership with George Martin. An unchanged back row sees Sam Underhill at openside flanker, Chandler Cunningham-South on the blindside, and Ben Earl at number eight.

In the half back berths, halback Alex Mitchell is once again paired with Marcus Smith at 10. The midfield sees Ollie Lawrence named at inside centre alongside Henry Slade at 13.

In the back three, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso starts on the right wing, with Tommy Freeman on the left and George Furbank selected at fullback to round off the starting line-up.

Photo: AFP/SANKA VIDANAGAMA

Dan Cole will win his 115th cap from the bench to become England's second most capped men's player of all time behind Ben Youngs (127 caps).

Borthwick said the pressure of playing at Eden Park, where the All Blacks had not lost in 30 years, was more on the home side.

"Eden Park is a stadium packed with history and with memories of great rugby encounters," he said.

"We are delighted to be playing there this Saturday in what I anticipate will be another excellent Test encounter. New Zealand has a formidable record at this venue, but with that comes the pressure of expectation. It will be interesting to see how New Zealand manages that expectation in front of a full house."

The English team were happy to take inspiration from their football counterparts, who defeated the Netherlands 2-1 this morning to advance to their second European Championship final.

"There was a lot of excitement this morning at breakfast as we watched the football team, great result, fantastic performance and hopefully this weekend is another great one for English sport," Borthwick said.

All Blacks v England

Kick-off: 7.05pm, Saturday 6 July

Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

Live blog coverage on RNZ Sport

All Blacks: 1, Ethan de Groot 2. Codie Taylor 3. Tyrel Lomax 4. Scott Barrett (captain) 5, Patrick Tuipulotu, 6. Samipeni Finau 7. Dalton Papali'i 8. Ardie Savea (vice captain) 9. Finlay Christie 10. Damian McKenzie 11. Mark Tele'a 12. Jordie Barrett 13. Rieko Ioane 14. Sevu Reece 15. Stephen Perofeta

Bench: 16. Asafo Aumua 17. Ofa Tu'ungafasi 18. Fletcher Newell 19. Tupou Vaa'i 20. Luke Jacobson 21. Cortez Ratima 22. Anton Lienert-Brown 23. Beauden Barrett

England: 15. George Furbank 14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 13. Henry Slade (vice-captain) 12. Ollie Lawrence 11. Tommy Freeman 10. Marcus Smith 9. Alex Mitchell 8. Ben Earl (vice-captain) 7. Sam Underhill 6. Chandler Cunningham-South 5. George Martin 4. Maro Itoje (vice-captain) 3. Will Stuart 2. Jamie George (captain) 1. Fin Baxter

Bench: 16. Theo Dan 17. Bevan Rodd 18. Dan Cole 19. Alex Coles 20. Tom Curry 21. Ben Spencer 22. Fin Smith 23. Ollie Sleightholme