Northampton Saints lock David Ribbans will make his England debut on Saturday after being named in Eddie Jones’ starting XV to take on Japan at Twickenham.
The 27-year-old was named on the bench for the Red Rose last weekend but did not enter the action, so will earn his first cap in this weekend’s clash (kick-off: 3.15pm, Saturday 12 November, live on Amazon Prime Sport and talkSPORT).
Alex Coles impressed in England’s narrow defeat to Argentina last weekend, and is named amongst the replacements this week.
Meanwhile George Furbank, Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman were all released back to the Club on Wednesday evening, and will be available for selection for Saints’ Gallagher Premiership fixture at Saracens on Sunday afternoon.
“We’ve worked hard this week to improve on last week’s performance,” said England Head Coach Jones.
“We’ve taken a good look at our preparation, and we are happy with our position going into the game. We’ve made a few changes to the side as we play these four games in November.
“Japan are a very good and intriguing side. They play a unique type of rugby based on continuity and team cohesion, and we’ll have to be at our best against them at Twickenham on Saturday.”
England side to face Japan
15 Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps)
14 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 43 caps)
13 Guy Porter (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
12 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 98 caps)
11 Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 69 caps)
10 Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 14 caps)
9 Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 4 caps)
1 Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 40 caps)
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 38 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 53 caps)
4 David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
5 Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 16 caps)
6 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 59 caps)
7 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 42 caps)
8 Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 15 caps)
Replacements:
16 Jamie George (Saracens, 69 caps)
17 Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 71 caps)
18 Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps)
19 Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
20 Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 65 caps)
21 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 118 caps)
22 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 49 caps)
23 Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 47 caps)
