Captain Dylan Hartley will miss England’s Six Nations clash against in Paris on Saturday due to a calf injury, while Mike Brown drops to the bench. 2h6f2e
Saracens hooker Jamie George replaces the Northampton Saints man, while elsewhere, full-back Brown drops to the bench as Elliot Daly returns into the starting XV; Anthony Watson makes the positional switch to full-back.
Inside-centre Owen Farrell will captain the side in Hartley’s absence, while loosehead prop Mako Vunipola has been named as vice captain.
In midfield, Ben Te’o earns a recall as Bath centre Jonathan Joseph drops to the replacements bench.
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), James Haskell (Wasps), Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs) and Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins) all also come onto the bench.
“This game is about the opportunity for the team to move forward and we want a response from the players this week,” said England head coach Eddie Jones.
“Against we want to be brutal and aggressive on the gain line and to play with a great tactical discipline.
“Owen [Farrell] will be very proud to be captain but at the same time he is disappointed for Dylan [Hartley] to miss out through injury and he knows the position of captain carries a lot of responsibility.
“We need to make sure we have one strong voice among the forward leaders and Mako [Vunipola] has been doing some great work behind the scenes and will step up and take that on officially against .”
England team to play : 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Ben Te’o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Jamie George, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Nathan Hughes
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 James Haskell, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Mike Brown.
