Eddie Jones has announced the England team that will take on Wales in the Old Mutual Wealth Cup at Twickenham on Sunday.
There is a debut for Northampton back-row player Teimana Harrison in the number six shirt, while Jack Clifford gets his first start at number eight.
There are three further uncapped players named on the bench, with Tommy Taylor, Ellis Genge and Ollie Devoto all slated for their first England appearance.
“We’ve picked a side we believe can beat Wales,” said head coach Jones. “It’s a good mixture of experienced players and youth.
“Obviously we have a number of players missing from the squad who are taking part in the Premiership Final but this provides us with a great opportunity to expose other players to Test rugby. This will serve to strengthen the squad’s depth as we move towards the 2019 World Cup.
“We’ve prepared well this week and I’m pleased with the progress the squad have made in the time we’ve had together. There’s been plenty of energy and enthusiasm and you can tell the lads have enjoyed being back in camp.
“As always there were some tight calls on selection and that’s how we want it. There are some new faces to the squad. Teimana Harrison gets a start at six, which is a great chance for him to make a statement ahead of the tour to Australia. Ellis Genge and Tommy Taylor have all trained well this week and deserve their spots in the 23.
“This is an important Test match and a great opportunity for us to play some positive, physical rugby. We are a young team learning our craft, Wales are an experienced team; it’ll be great test for us.
“We can’t wait to get back to Twickenham to play in front of a massive crowd. England versus Wales is a special occasion and we look forward to giving our loyal fans something to cheer about.”
ENGLAND TEAM TO PLAY WALES IN OLD MUTUAL WEALTH CUP
15. Mike Brown (vice captain, Harlequins, 48 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 20 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 21 caps)
12. Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 12 caps)
11. Marland Yarde (Harlequins, 7 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 22 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 57 caps)
1. Matt Mullan (Wasps 9 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (captain, Northampton Saints, 71 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 61 caps)
4. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 32 caps)
5. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 45 caps)
6. Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
7. James Haskell (Wasps, 67 caps)
8. Jack Clifford (Harlequins, 5 caps)
Replacements:
16. Tommy Taylor (Sales Sharks, uncapped)
17. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
18. Paul Hill (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
19. Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby, 22 caps)
20. Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby, 2 caps)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 58 caps)
22. Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
23. Elliot Daly (Wasps, 3 caps)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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Interesting, interesting… Think Robshaw is a casualty of a decision to give three backrow options (Harrison, Clifford and Kvesic) some game time to impress. As all three can play 7 I think Haskell (or both’s) position is just at risk in the long term. But didn’t want to through a entirely untested backrow in one go against a strong Wales side.
Otherwise this looks remarkably similar to Lancaster’s side from a couple of years ago!
Brown, Ford and Joseph need big games to hold off Goode, Farrell and Daly/Slade. Really excited to see how the replacement front rows get on at the top level, up against a seriously strong Welsh front row. Baptism of fire.
Still can’t work out what centre combo Jones will go for. Preferred a distributor in the 6N (Farrell) so Slade would have been the obvious replacement, with Farrell moving to 10. But he hasn’t picked Devoto to start (the closest to those two), rather Burrell – more the direct route style 12, which suggests maybe Ben Te’o (and then Manu in the future, if he is veer fit again) will be the choice for now. Slade takes a bench spot in that case?
An interesting and not unexciting selection. Clearly EJ wants to develop an alternative style of play to what he did in the 6n, so out goes the 2nd playmaker and in comes a more physical runner, clearly earmarked for Tuilagi or Teo if either had been available. And here is my concern. I just don’t rate Burrell, especially on current form. For such a big guy he tends to punch well below his weight, but maybe the dangle of the Aus tour will up his game. Clearly Devoto is there as fail safe.
Only quibble I have is no Robson. I also find it odd that Harrison is named at 6 and Haskell at 7? Ok the numbers tend not to matter, and I actually very much like the balance of this back row, but I wonder why EJ has done this. A vote of confidence in Haskell’s form at 7? A way of letting Robshaw down by saying he wants to look at the 7 options in the squad (with Kvesic on the bench)?
Given the number of absences, this is a remarkably strong team. Lawes and Launchbury were our number one lock options not too long ago, Mullan is overdue a start IMO and this could be a potential banana skin to what could be a close to full strength Wales team.
Benjit, I share your reservations about Burrell. I believe his passing is weak under pressure, and that is defensive positioning can be poor, and he can expose his weak shoulder too often. This could be an issue against Roberts as whilst he is seen simply as the bosher, he does have very subtle lines that can exploit the weaknesses in the biggest of shoulders.
Harrison AND Clifford – didn’t see that one coming. That is certainly some pace with the ball in the back row, and with Kvesic coming on later (possibly for Haskell) that will really be interesting.
I am glad Kvesic is included as he does seem to be continually unlucky with selections.
…particularly as Wales have not picked an openside!
Can’t agree that Wales have a ‘ close to full strength side’, No JD, Warbs, Charteris,TIps or Half-P who would have been certain starters, Francis & P James amongst others from the bench.
England of course are missing numerous players but have a much larger player base to compensate …..
Thought Kvesic might have got a start at open side with Haskell at 6 and Harrison at 8, with the lack of an open side in Wales side could have been worth targeting the breakdown with 3 guys that can play 7. Think Kvesic is underrated and would have liked to see him given a chance.
Not sure about Burrell, but I guess EJ wants some size in there to combat Roberts and worry about Ford – he has played a lot in last year or so and a poor game is only going to damage his confidence further. Surprised Cips wasn’t given a chance to be honest.
Surely this would have been the perfect game for Te’o to start? We know what Burrell can and can’t do.
Surely Jones can’t just throw Te’o in against the Aussies without a prior start?
Just realised Te’o is playing for Leinster!