England have made four changes for South Africa on Saturday with Freddie Steward, Ollie Sleightholme, Jack van Poortvliet and Sam Underhill all starting.
Two of those changes are injury-enforced with Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso sidelined after sustaining knocks against Australia, while Ben Spencer and George Furbank have been dropped. There is a further change to the bench with Tom Roebuck named.
England head into Saturday’s match against the Springboks under pressure after losing both of their Autumn Nations Series Tests in the final throes. They fell 24-22 to the All Blacks after George Ford’s last-gasp penalty and drop-goal failed to find the target, and then shipped an 83rd-minute try against Australia last Saturday.
Borthwick has shuffled his pack ahead of the Boks with a selection, which suggests they are targeting the aerial battle. Steward comes in for Furbank at fullback, while Sleightholme replaces the injured Feyi-Waboso, swapping wings with Tommy Freeman.
The switch at scrum-half means Spencer drops out of the matchday squad having started both games so far this November, with Van Poortvliet back at No.9 and Harry Randall on the bench.
Elsewhere, Underhill comes into the side to replace Curry at openside. Roebuck could win his second Test cap if given the nod from the replacements.
“We’re excited to challenge ourselves against the world’s top-ranked team and back-to-back Rugby World Cup champions,” Borthwick said. “Test matches against South Africa are always thrilling contests, and I’m sure Saturday will be no exception.”
England starting XV:
Freddie Steward, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Ollie Sleightholme, Marcus Smith, Jack van Poortvliet; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Dan Cole, Nick Isiekwe, Alex Dombrandt, Harry Randall, George Ford, Tom Roebuck.
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Source: espn.com