England coach Eddie Jones sprang a surprise by naming George Furbank at fullback and Freddie Steward on the wing for his side’s bid to deny France a Grand Slam in their Six Nations finale in Paris on Saturday.
Steward was England’s fullback in their 32-15 defeat by Ireland at Twickenham last week. But he has now been moved to the right wing after Jones dropped Max Malins, with Furbank taking over the No 15 jersey in his first appearance of the tournament.
Jones has also recalled Ben Youngs, England’s most-capped player, at scrumhalf in place of rising star Harry Randall. In the pack, Nick Isiekwe starts in the second row in place of Charlie Ewels after the lock was sent off just 82 seconds into England’s record home defeat by the Irish.
That reverse ended any hopes England had of winning the title following their first-round defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield.
England – 15 George Furbank, 14 Freddie Steward, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge.
Subs: 16 Nic Dolly, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Elliot Daly.
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