Courtney Lawes will mark his 90th England appearance as England captain in Saturday’s clash with South Africa.
Eddie Jones turned to the 12-year international veteran to lead his country after an ankle injury ruled Owen Farrell out of the Twickenham Test and left him in a race against time to make the start of the Six Nations.
Farrell’s absence means Manu Tuilagi moves in from the wing to his regular centre slot alongside young fly-half Marcus Smith.
Smith’s Harlequins club mate Joe Marchant is named on the right wing, his first start for two years and only his second ever.
Up front Jones shows his faith in youth, opting for Jamie Blamire to start at hooker in place of the injured Jamie George.
It is the young Newcastle star’s first start of the season for either club or country and it comes against the champions of the world.
Jones said: “This is our biggest game of the season and the final game of the autumn campaign and we want to finish with a bang.
“We’ve been really pleased with the preparation this week and how the team has continued to develop over the past month.
“Now we want to put on our best performance this autumn in front of a capacity 82,000 crowd at Twickenham.”
The Australian is likely to give a debut off the bench to Sydney-born Leicester hooker Nic Dolly. Joe Marler, out of Covid isolation only today, is also among the replacements.
ENGLAND
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 4 caps)
14. Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 6 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 42 caps)
12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 45 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 68 caps)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 4 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 111 caps)
1. Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 1 cap)
2. Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons, 4 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 46 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 50 caps)
5. Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 11 caps)
6. Courtney Lawes (C) (Northampton Saints, 89 caps)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 26 caps)
8. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 35 caps)
Replacements
16. Nic Dolly (Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
17. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 73 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 14 caps)
19. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 25 caps)
20. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 8 caps)
21. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 3 caps)
22. Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks, 1 cap)
23. Max Malins (Saracens, 9 caps)
