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Marcus Smith will start at No.10 for England against Australia on Sunday with captain Owen Farrell shifting to inside centre and a suprise start on the wing for Manu Tuilagi.
Smith, 22, will make just his third Test start opposite James O’Connor after guiding under-strength England teams to victory over the United States and Canada in July.
Tuilagi’s selection means that flying winger Adam Radwan drops out of the matchday squad. Uncapped duo Raffi Quirke and Bevan Rodd are on the bench.
Tuilagi starts on the wing in a Test for just the second time in his career, having previously played there against New Zealand in June 2014.
Farrell missed last week’s Test against Tonga after a false positive to COVID.
The thought he might move one place out to allow Smith at No.10 has excited English fans and will be seen as an adventurous and attacking move by Eddie Jones.
Jones has opted for a 6-2 split on the bench, naming Sam Simmonds among his replacements. Simmonds has not played for England since 2018 but is in line for his ninth Test cap, having appeared for the Lions against South Africa.
Ellis Genge, Jamie George and Kyle Sinckler make up the front-row, Maro Itoje and Jonny Hill continue at lock and Courtney Lawes, Sam Underhill and Tom Curry are the back-rows.
Ben Youngs continues at scrum-half with Jonny May on one wing and Freddie Steward again at fullback. Max Malins comes on to the bench to add versatility as one of two back replacements alongside Quirke.
“We know this will be a tough test for us, we’re playing against a team who have been together a while and who have beat the world champions twice,” said Eddie Jones.
“As an Australian I know how much this game means. It is probably hard for the English to understand how important this is for Australia, It doesn’t matter whether it is Olympics, Test cricket, rugby league, this is the game that defines a season
“We Australians have a bit of an inferiority complex against the English and they will want to take us.”
Jones said he picked Tuilagi because he wanted his best players on the pitcfh.
“We decided we would pick the best players and the players will mix and match on the field to their strengths,” said Jones.
“He can handle 12, 13, 11, 14 – all those positions – with aplomb and he is in the best condition of his career.
“We might not need to worry too much about the high ball against Australia. If they do kick we have other blokes who are really good under the high ball.”
England have won all seven matches against Australia during Jones’ time in charge, most recently beating the Wallabies 40-16 in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Australia’s last victory was the pool-stage win at Twickenham in 2015.
England team
1. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 31 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 60 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 45 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 49 caps)
5. Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps)
6. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 88 caps)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 25 caps)
8. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 34 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 110 caps)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 3 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 67 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (Saracens, 93 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 41 caps)
14. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 44 caps)
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 3 caps)
Replacements
16. Jamie Blamire
17. Bevan Rodd
18. Will Stuart
19. Charlie Ewels
20. Alex Dombrandt
21. Sam Simmonds
22. Raffi Quirke
23 Max Malins
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