George Ford and Jamie George will lead an England XV against France this weekend as Immanuel Feyi-Waboso returns from injury.
The experienced duo have been named by head coach Steve Borthwick as co-captains for the game at Allianz Stadium Twickenham on Saturday afternoon.
Ford is currently on 99 international appearances for England but won’t reach his century against Les Bleus as it is classed as a non-cap match, which serves as a warm-up for the two-Test tour to Argentina in July and a one-off clash against the USA in Washington.
Borthwick - who will name his touring squad on Monday (June 23) - is unable to call upon some 13 players who have been selected for British and Irish Lions duty this summer, including influential captain Maro Itoje.
Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock, Ben Earl, Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman, Marcus Smith and Elliot Daly were also called up for the Lions, while Jack van Poortvliet has been training with Andy Farrell’s side in the build-up to their 1888 Cup tie with Argentina in Dublin on Friday night as specialist scrum-half cover following an injury to Jamison Gibson-Park.
Hooker George and tighthead prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour were also drafted in for Lions training last week, with the former returning to face France.
Ben Curry, George Furbank, Fraser Dingwall and Harry Randall are all continuing their respective injury rehabilitations with England, with the likes of Ollie Lawrence and George Martin still sidelined.
The most standout England selection to face France ‘A’ is that of Feyi-Waboso, who will be hoping to prove that he can still be an option for the Lions this summer after recovering from a shoulder injury that ruled him out of initial contention and has prevented him from playing since December, requiring surgery.
Exeter team-mate Henry Slade marshals the backline from outside centre, partnered in midfield by Gloucester’s Seb Atkinson, who is one of three uncapped players in the starting XV, along with Sale full-back Joe Carpenter and Bath’s influential Premiership-winning flanker Guy Pepper.
Tom Roebuck lines up on the opposite flank to Feyi-Waboso, while Ford is partnered at half-back by Bath’s Ben Spencer.
Fin Baxter and Joe Heyes are the props, with Alex Coles and Nick Isiekwe in the second row. Pepper is joined in the back row by Bath team-mate Ted Hill and Tom Willis.
There are two more uncapped players on the bench in flanker Jack Kenningham and versatile back Oscar Beard, who are joined by fellow Harlequins stars Chandler Cunningham-South and Alex Dombrant, plus Theo Dan, Bevan Rodd, Trevor Davison and Raffi Quirke.
“We're excited to be playing at Allianz Stadium and to test ourselves against a strong French side,” said Borthwick.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing this young team get out there and show what they’re capable of.
“It’s a great opportunity to take another step forward ahead of the summer Tour to Argentina and the US.”
