Northampton Saints trio Courtney Lawes, George Furbank and Alex Mitchell are named amongst Eddie Jones' matchday 23 as England prepare kick-off their Autumn Nations Series Tonga this Saturday (6 November, kick-off: 3.15pm).
The 87-time capped Lawes starts in the back row for England and is also named as one of the side's three vice captains for the series with Tonga; meanwhile Furbank looks set to make his fifth international appearance from England's replacements, while scrum-half Mitchell will earn his maiden international cap should he enter the game from the bench.
Eddie Jones has named his team for this weekend’s Test match against Tonga.
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 4, 2021
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"We’ve had two good preparation camps in Jersey and Pennyhill Park, worked really hard and we’re ready for a tough, physical game," said Jones.
"We respect Tonga greatly and we know that with props like Siegfried Fisi’ihoi and Ben Tameifuna, we are going to have to go in the front door before the back door.
"We’re especially looking forward to getting back out in front of a full crowd at Twickenham and playing some entertaining, exciting rugby for all of the supporters, we can’t wait to have them back."
England take on Australia on Saturday 13 November (5.30pm KO) and world champions South Africa on Saturday 20 November (3.15pm KO). All matches are live on Amazon Prime Sport and TalkSPORT.
ENGLAND vs TONGA
Autumn Nations Series
Saturday 6 November, 2021
Twickenham Stadium
Kick-off: 3.15pm
15 Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
14 Adam Radwan (Newcastle Falcons, 1 cap)
13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 40 caps)
12 Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 43 caps)
11 Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 66 caps)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 93 caps)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 109 caps)
1 Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 30 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 59 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 44 caps)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 48 caps)
5 Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)
6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 87 caps)
7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 24 caps)
8 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 33 caps)
Replacements:
16 Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons, 2 caps)
17 Joe Marler (Harlequins, 72 caps)
18 Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 12 caps)
19 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 23 caps)
20 Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 1 cap)
21 Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
22 Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 2 caps)
23 George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
