England team to play All Blacks at Eden Park
Steve Borthwick has named his team to play New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday 13th July.
There are two changes to the starting side that was narrowly defeated in Dunedin last weekend, with Fin Baxter added to the scrum and Freddie Steward replacing the injured George Furbank at full back. Loosehead prop Baxter starts his first game for England having made his debut off the bench at the Forsyth Barr Stadium last Saturday.
- Kick off 8:05am BST
- Preview: NZ v England
- Watch live on Sky Sports
Among the replacements, Dan Cole is in line to make his 115th appearance and become England's second most capped men's player of all time behind Ben Youngs. The only other change to the match day 23 sees Bevan Rodd installed on the bench.
ENGLAND TEAM TO FACE NEW ZEALAND
Starting
15. Freddie Steward
13. Henry Slade - vice-captain
12. Ollie Lawrence
11. Tommy Freeman
10. Marcus Smith
1. Fin Baxter
2. Jamie George - captain
3. Will Stuart
4. Maro Itoje - vice-captain
8. Ben Earl - vice-captain
Replacements
16. Theo Dan
17. Bevan Rodd
18. Dan Cole
19. Alex Coles
20. Tom Curry
21. Ben Spencer
22. Fin Smith
BORTHWICK ON SELECTION
“Eden Park is a stadium packed with history and with memories of great rugby encounters, and we are delighted to be playing there on Saturday in what I anticipate will be another excellent Test.
“New Zealand has a formidable record at this venue, but with that comes the pressure of expectation. It will be interesting to see how New Zealand manages that expectation in front of a full house.
“I’d like to pay special tribute to Dan Cole who will become England’s second most capped men's player of all time on the weekend.
“Dan has shown nothing but dedication and determination throughout his career, and reaching this milestone is a remarkable feat. He is a superb rugby player, a wonderful role model, and we all look forward to sharing a memorable day with him on Saturday.”
