Head coach Eddie Jones has made nine changes to his England side to face Australia at Twickenham Stadium in the last Test of the 2018 Quilter Internationals, with Courtney Lawes and Dylan Hartley remaining in the mix for the final clash of the Autumn.
The 29-year-old lock starts in the engine room to earn his 68th cap on Saturday (kick-off 3pm, live on Sky Sports Action and Main Event).
And Saints co-captain Dylan Hartley begins the game on the bench as he hopes to secure his 97th England cap in the fourth and final Test match of the Autumn, while the hooker is also in line to make a record 56th international appearance at Twickenham this weekend, hoping to overtake Jason Leonard who made 55 appearances at the home of English rugby.
Jones said: “We’ve picked our best 23 for the Australia game. We know they have a unique style of attack so our ability to defend that is going to be important. We are continually working on our strengths which is our set piece and our defence and they are areas that are progressing nicely.
“I’m really happy with the direction we’re going in terms of the way we play the game. We are developing a unique style of rugby, which is English and the players are proud to play that way.
“The second part is the leadership of the team through the co-captaincy of Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell has been outstanding. We have seen growth in the togetherness of the team and I think we’ve seen that in the spirit in which they’ve played.
“Australia, we know are a traditional rival and we enjoy the occasion of playing them at Twickenham. The spirit of the fans has been outstanding. I think the atmosphere during these Quilter Internationals has been the best atmosphere I’ve certainly experienced and we encourage the fans to be at their robust best at the weekend.”
England have won their last five games against Australia and four of the last five at Twickenham against the Wallabies.
Elsewhere, Dan Biggar has been named in the matchday 23 for Wales as they prepare to take on South Africa in the final Test of the Under Armour Series on Saturday (kick-off 5.20pm).
Wales' Head Coach Warren Gatland said: "We are really pleased with how the bench has gone in the first three games so we will be looking for that impact again on Saturday.
"There were a lot of tough selection calls, but that is what we want. The team that played last week was hugely impressive and there are some disappointed boys who miss out.
"We want to end the campaign with a big performance against a very good South African side."
