England coach Eddie Jones has made one change to his starting lineup for Saturday’s World Cup semi-final against the All Blacks in Yokohama.
After his much-talked about omission from the side which took on Australia in the quarter-final last week, George Ford comes back into the lineup at flyhalf.
His selection has captain Owen Farrell moving to inside centre with Manu Tuilagi shifting to outside centre. Henry Slade, who started in the No 13 jersey last week, drops to the bench.
There is one other swap on the bench, where Mark Wilson replaces Louis Ludlam.
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According to Jones his team’s preparation has been good this week after a solid win against Australia.
‘When you get to this stage of the World Cup it is all about focusing on being in the moment and getting yourself physically right,’ said Jones.
‘The squad has approached the game well with real maturity. It has helped having players here who have been on the Lions tour and played against New Zealand. They have been involved in some of the biggest games in world rugby, so this semi-final won’t faze them.
‘New Zealand is a great team, they have an impressive winning record since the last Rugby World Cup. Like any good team, you have got to take away time and space from them – you have to find areas you can pressure them. We believe we have identified a number of areas where we can do that.’
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England – 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Subs: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Dan Cole, 19 George Kruis, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
Photo: Getty Images
