Manu Tuilagi is a surprise selection on the wing for Saturday’s clash with Australia as England make room in their midfield for Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell.
Tuilagi’s only previous Test appearance in the position came on tour against New Zealand in 2014 and the experiment was immediately abandoned by Eddie Jones’ predecessor as head coach, Stuart Lancaster.
The decision is shaped by Jones’ desire to field Smith at fly-half and Farrell at inside centre in a dual playmaker partnership for the Autumn Nations showdown at Twickenham.
Adam Radwan makes way for Tuilagi’s switch to the right wing and the Newcastle try machine can not even win a place on the bench despite a record of four touch downs in two Tests.
Henry Slade was a candidate to make way for the return of Farrell, who was ruled out of the 69-3 victory over Tonga by a false-positive test for Covid-19, but his man-of-the-match performance has convinced Jones to axe Radwan instead.
England’s pack remains unchanged with Maro Itoje set to win his 50th cap, while a six-two split on the bench sees a return for Sam Simmonds.
“We know this will be a tough test for us. We’re playing against a team who have been together a while and who have beat the world champions twice. As an Australian I know how much this game means,” Jones said.
“We’ve had a really good week of preparation, we’re looking to improve our performance this week and I think this side is building well.”
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 11, 2021
England team to face Australia
Forwards: 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Tom Curry
Backs: 9 Ben Youngs, 10 Marcus Smith, 11 Jonny May, 12 Owen Farrell (Captain), 13 Henry Slade, 14 Manu Tuilagi, 15 Freddie Steward
Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Sam Simmonds, 22 Raffi Quirke, 23 Max Malins