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England reshuffle front row in team to face All Blacks
By Ned Lester
Steve Borthwick has named the England team that will look to tackle New Zealand in the opening Test of their July Series on Saturday.
The team features two changes from the side that beat Japan in Tokyo last month, with a front-row switch seeing Joe Marler and Will Stuart start alongside captain Jamie George.
Test rookies Fin Baxter and Ollie Sleightholme have been named on the bench, set for potential debuts under the roof in Dunedin.
“It doesn’t get more challenging than playing New Zealand at home, but it’s exactly where we want to be. We want to find out more about ourselves and test ourselves against one of the best teams in the world.
“Test rugby is a game of fine margins, so our mindset is going to be very important on Saturday. We’ll need to be mentally strong, play a tactically smart game and ensure we maintain our discipline.
“The Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin is a great venue with a quick surface, and the closed roof should make the atmosphere very special.”
England team to play New Zealand
15. George Furbank
13. Henry Slade – vice-captain
12. Ollie Lawrence
11. Tommy Freeman
10. Marcus Smith
1. Joe Marler – vice-captain
2. Jamie George – captain
3. Will Stuart
4. Maro Itoje – vice-captain
8. Ben Earl – vice-captain
Replacements
16. Theo Dan
17. Fin Baxter
18. Dan Cole
19. Alex Coles
20. Tom Curry
21. Ben Spencer
22. Fin Smith
23. Ollie Sleightholme
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Latest Comments
Australia definitely the game of the weekend. Wallabies by 3.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?
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