Captain Farrell returns at 10 - England name team to play Chile
England head coach Steve Borthwick has named his match-day 23 to face Chile in Pool D at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Saturday, 23 September.
Owen Farrell returns from suspension to captain England at fly-half as head coach Steve Borthwick names his match-day 23 to play Chile in Pool D in Lille on Saturday.
1 Bevan Rodd
2 Theo Dan
3 Kyle Sinckler
4 David Ribbans
5 George Martin
6 Lewis Ludlam
7 Jack Willis
8 Billy Vunipola
9 Danny Care
10 Owen Farrell (c)
11 Max Malins
12 Ollie Lawrence
13 Elliot Daly
14 Henry Arundell
15 Marcus Smith
Replacements:
16 Jack Walker
17 Joe Marler
18 Will Stuart
19 Ollie Chessum
20 Ben Earl
21 Ben Youngs
22 George Ford
23 Joe Marchant
-
Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam are the only two players to retain their places in the starting XV, with head coach Steve Borthwick making 13 changes to the team that started against Japan.
-
Six players in the match-day team will make their Rugby World Cup debut - Bevan Rodd, David Ribbans, Jack Willis, Max Malins, Henry Arundell and Jack Walker.
- Owen Farrell will captain England for the 44th time, surpassing Chris Robshaw to move into second all-time. Only Will Carling has led England in more tests (59).
- He will partner Danny Care in the halves for the first time since 2014 against South Africa at Twickenham. In the last nine games when they have both been named in the starting XV, Farrell has started at inside-centre.
-
Marcus Smith will start his first Rugby World Cup match after playing 17 minutes off the bench across England’s opening two games. This will be his first test at full-back, after starting 19 games at fly-half.
- George Ford, who starts on the bench, is averaging 20.5 points per game at Rugby World Cup 2023 after coming into the tournament averaging 4.3 across his first four tests this year.