Eddie names names side for first Australia Test
England captain Dylan Hartley will lead out a side against Australia with a total of 539 international caps between them as they aim to win the first of a three-Test series in Brisbane on Saturday 11 June (kick-off 11am BST, live on Sky Sports 1).
Saracens’ Owen Farrell starts at fly-half with Northampton Saints’ Luther Burrell alongside him at inside centre.
Harlequins’ Marland Yarde retains his place on the wing after a strong performance against Wales at Twickenham on 29 May.
The pack is unchanged from the one that started in Paris earlier in the year when England beat France to be crowned RBS 6 Nations champions.We aim to win every Test match we play and I am pleased with our preparation
Full-back Mike Brown will win his 50th England cap when he runs out at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
“We have picked a side to win in Brisbane,” said England Head Coach Eddie Jones. “As always selection was tight and naturally players are disappointed, but we’ve gone with a 23 that has a good mix of experience and youth.
“We aim to win every Test match we play and I am pleased with our preparation since we landed in Australia. The group have acclimatised well, trained hard and there’s a buzz around the camp.”
England have never won a Test series in Australia and Jones urged his side to get the southern hemisphere tour off to a winning start and “create history”.
“If you look at England’s record in Australia it’s pretty ordinary,” he said.
“We’ve only ever won three games in Australia so it’s a great opportunity to put down a marker and create history. It’s important we get off to a positive start and we’ll arrive in Brisbane ready to play physical and aggressive rugby.It’ll be a great challenge for us and one we’re looking forward to meeting head on
“We’re excited to be playing against a strong Australian team in their backyard. The Wallabies are ranked second in the world and have the World Rugby coach of the year, so that’s why they start as favourites. There’s a lot of expectation on them to win the series convincingly.
“We have a young squad with an average age of 24 so we are still developing and improving. It’ll be a great challenge for us and one we’re looking forward to meeting head on.”
England match-day 23 to face Australia
15. Mike Brown (vice captain, Harlequins, 49 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 21 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 22 caps)
12. Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 14 caps)
11. Marland Yarde (Harlequins, 8 caps)
10. Owen Farrell (vice captain, Saracens, 40 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 58 caps)
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 32 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (captain, Northampton Saints, 72 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 62 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 4 caps)
5. George Kruis (Saracens, 15 caps)
6. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, 48 caps)
7. James Haskell (Wasps, 68 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (vice captain, Saracens, 26 caps)
Replacements
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps)
17. Matt Mullan (Wasps 10 caps)
18. Paul Hill (Northampton Saints, 2 cap)
19. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 32 caps)
20. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 46 caps)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 59 caps)
22. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 23 caps)
23. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 15 caps)
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