England are set to name Marland Yarde and Luther Burrell in their lineup to face Australia in the first Test but now appear to have shelved their initial plans to shift Maro Itoje from the second row to the blindside flank. Owen Farrell is also poised to start at fly-half ahead of Bath’s George Ford.
Only a couple of weeks ago Yarde and Burrell were battling to make the tour party, let alone the starting XV for a pivotal fixture against the Wallabies. With Manu Tuilagi injured and the uncapped Ben Te’o having missed some training this week, however, Eddie Jones is understood to have opted for Yarde in place of Jack Nowell on the wing and given Burrell a further chance to extend his international career in the No12 jersey.
England have been coy about the fitness of certain individuals since arriving on the Gold Coast but, barring another late rethink, the option of moving Itoje to the back-row seems to have been resisted for the time being. There is also looming disappointment for Exeter’s Nowell and Bath’s Ford, both of whom have started regularly since Jones became head coach.
The team will be confirmed on Thursday, with Australia also due to unveil their side for Saturday’s eagerly awaited encounter. Competition for places increasingly intense given that England have yet to lose since Jones took charge completing a Six Nations grand slam in March and beating Wales at Twickenham .
A third of the side is likely to be comprised of Saracens players, who have already completed a domestic and European trophy double, including Farrell whose all-round form has earned him the No10 jersey. The consistent club efforts of Alex Goode, however, are again understood to have gone unrewarded, not for the first time in his Test career.
Jones, meanwhile, has told the local Courier Mail that Sam Burgess was a “non-event in England’s confused strategy at the World Cup” but suggested he would have been “an excellent Test player if he’d had the will to stick at it.” He believes, however, that Te’o has the potential ability to make the leap from Australian rugby league to Test union in the near future. “Tough guys like Te’o bring something extra to a squad, a bit of an intangible. Plus he’s done the hard yards in 50-odd games for Leinster.”
England’s head coach has also impressed on all his players that weariness at the end of a long season is an unacceptable excuse. “It’s not just end of season, roll your eyes and get on with it,” confirmed the Leicester prop Dan Cole. “You understand this will be step up from Six Nations and if you want to be successful you have to come here. Previously tours might have been relaxed but on this one we are working as hard as ever.”
Possible England XV: M Brown (Harlequins); A Watson (Bath), J Joseph (Bath), L Burrell (Northampton), M Yarde (Harlequins); O Farrell (Saracens), B Youngs (Leicester); M Vunipola (Saracens), D Hartley (capt), D Cole (Leicester), G Kruis (Saracens), M Itoje (Saracens), C Robshaw (Harlequins), J Haskell (Wasps), B Vunipola (Saracens).
