England have rested Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje for Saturday's autumn series opener against Argentina at Twickenham.
Red Rose head coach Eddie Jones had indicated he would stand down some of his British and Irish Lions due to their involvement in the summer tour to New Zealand and he has chosen to omit Farrell and Itoje from the matchday 23.
Here it is…
Your England team to take on @lospumas in the opening match of the #OMWSeries
Full story https://t.co/SxaZ3FnNkw pic.twitter.com/EXHsBBqWeS
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 9, 2017
Henry Slade replaces Farrell at inside centre, holding off the challenge of Alex Lozowski who is named on the bench, and it is George Kruis and Courtney Lawes who are paired in the second row.
The openside duel has been won by Sam Underhill with his fellow rookie Tom Curry named among the replacements.
Maro Itoje has also been rested (Mark Kerton/PA)
"This is our best 23 selected in what is our most important game this year," Jones said.
"We know that Argentina is a strong team - they were World Cup semi-finalists in 2015 - and we will have to be smart and play well to beat them."
Elliot Daly and Anthony Watson have been named on the wings after Jonny May failed to recover from a hamstring strain in time to be involved against the Pumas.
Daly was expected to miss the clashes with Argentina and Australia because of knee ligament damage but the injury was not as bad as his scan suggested and he has been passed fit.
Looking forward to seeing @elliotdaly @NateWJHughes and @joe_launch for @EnglandRugby on Saturday, as they face @lospumas in the opening game of the Old Mutual Wealth Series!
Read the full story at https://t.co/ILPeSpLLgn pic.twitter.com/zuxbXZzzUQ— Wasps (@WaspsRugby) November 9, 2017
The versatile Wasps threequarter’s path back into the team was cleared when May was ruled out.
Semesa Rokoduguni, alongside May the Aviva Premiership’s most potent finisher, features on the bench having been jettisoned by Jones last autumn when he made his only previous appearance under the Australian.
England’s embarrassment of riches in the second row means Joe Launchbury must settle for a place on the bench, where he is joined by Jamie George.
"He's got the distribution, the defence, and the speed."
Eddie on selection for #ENGvARG: https://t.co/Y3vinmlPZl#WearTheRose @O2Sports pic.twitter.com/C3vLGUq7vr— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 9, 2017
George started all three Lions Tests against the All Blacks but Dylan Hartley is Jones’ preferred hooker and he continues to lead the team.
“As a squad we have been preparing for this game since our first camp in August and are excited about playing in front of 82,000 fans at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday,” Jones said.
England’s autumn series continues against Australia a week later before concluding against financially-stricken Samoa on November 25.
England team to play Argentina
Forwards: 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley (Captain), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Courtney Lawes, 5 George Kruis, 6 Chris Robshaw, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Nathan Hughes
Backs: 9 Ben Youngs, 10 George Ford, 11 Elliot Daly, 12 Henry Slade, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 14 Anthony Watson, 15 Mike Brown
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Danny Care, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Semesa Rokoduguni