Farrell at fly-half for Springboks clash, Te’o starts at centre

Owen Farrell will start at fly-half for only the fourth time under Eddie Jones when England take on South Africa in their opening November international on Saturday.

Farrell has been primarily used at centre by the Australian since he took the reins in 2016, but is handed the number 10 jersey and a share of the captaincy with Dylan Hartley for the visit of the Springboks.

Ben Te’o starts alongside Henry Slade at centre, despite having only made one substitute appearance for Worcester Warriors this season, while Manu Tuilagi – who has not played for England since the 2016 Six Nations – is among the replacements.

Exeter Chiefs prop Alec Hepburn is handed his first start for the national team, and George Kruis and Jack Nowell join Te’o in making their first England outings since the 2018 Six Nations.

Uncapped duo Ben Moon and Zach Mercer are set to appear from the bench, but there is no place in the 23 for Chris Ashton, who had been looking to win his first cap in more than four years.

“We’ve become very well organised in our set piece and have done a lot of good work in Portugal over the last week,” said Jones. 

“We have put in a new defence system and our attack looks more organised than it was on the South Africa tour.

“Against South Africa you have got the physical battle up front and then you have to be tactically smart in how you attack against them.

“We need to find ways to gain momentum then, once we find momentum, convert that to points. 

“We are really excited to be back at Twickenham Stadium. It’s been a long time and we can’t wait to play in front of 82,000 fans.”

Your England team, co-captained by @DylanHartley and @owen_faz, to face the @Springboks on Saturday

Preview  https://t.co/zzm2cKdCHY#ENGvRSA #CarryThemHome pic.twitter.com/XKzkG2gEsq

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 1, 2018

England XV to face South Africa: Elliot Daly, Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, Ben Te’o, Jonny May, Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Alec Hepburn, Dylan Hartley, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Brad Shields, Tom Curry, Mark Wilson.

Replacements: Jamie George, Ben Moon, Harry Williams, Charlie Ewels, Zach Mercer, Danny Care, George Ford, Manu Tuilagi.

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