England bring in the big guns for All Blacks
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: England men’s head coach Steve Borthwick has named his team to play New Zealand at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
There are seven changes to the starting XV that beat Fiji 38-18 last weekend, with Maro Itoje, George Ford, Jamie George, Freddie Steward, Tom Roebuck, Fin Baxter and Sam Underhill all coming into the line-up.
Itoje is named as captain for England’s third fixture of the 2025 Nations Series, supported by George and Ford as vice-captains.
Itoje will now partner Alex Coles in the second row instead. Coles started alongside Ollie Chessum against Fiji.
Chessum and Tommy Freeman have failed to recover from their injuries.
Chessum sustained a foot injury in the closing stages against Fiji, while wing Freeman picked up a hamstring problem shortly before.
Freeman has been replaced by Tom Roebuck, who missed the Fiji contest due to an ankle injury.
While Borthwick has lost two Lions, he has welcomed back another one, Will Stuart, who missed the Fiji clash with Asher Opoku-Fordjour taking his place on the bench instead.
“I’m pleased with the progress we are making,” said Borthwick.
“Without doubt, New Zealand are one of the best teams in the world and facing them is always a special challenge.”
“Playing in front of a packed-out Allianz Stadium means a huge amount to the players. The support we’ve had throughout this series has been outstanding, and we want it loud again on Saturday.”
England round off their Nations Series campaign next weekend when they take on Argentina at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
England: 15 Feddie Steward, Tom Roebuck, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Guy Pepper, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George, 1 Fin Baxter.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Marcus Smith.
Date: Saturday, November 15
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Kick-off: 15.10 (15.10 GMT; 04.10 Sunday, November 16 NZT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Luc Ramos (France) & Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)