Te’o to start for England against Australia

Warriors centre Ben Te’o will return to England’s side for the final Quilter International against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.

Te’o started in the first two matches of the autumn series against South Africa and New Zealand, but he was rested for last Saturday’s win over Japan.

Te’o will renew his centre pairing with Henry Slade and will win his 16th cap as one of nine changes to the side that started against Japan.

England Head Coach Eddie Jones said: “We’ve picked our best 23 for the Australia game. We know they have a unique style of attack so our ability to defend that is going to be important. We are continually working on our strengths which is our set piece and our defence and they are areas that are progressing nicely.

“I’m really happy with the direction we’re going in terms of the way we play the game. We are developing a unique style of rugby, which is English and the players are proud to play that way.

“The second part is the leadership of the team through the co-captaincy of Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell has been outstanding. We have seen growth in the togetherness of the team and I think we’ve seen that in the spirit in which they’ve played.

“Australia, we know are a traditional rival and we enjoy the occasion of playing them at Twickenham. The spirit of the fans has been outstanding. I think the atmosphere during these Quilter Internationals has been the best atmosphere I’ve certainly experienced and we encourage the fans to be at their robust best at the weekend.”

England have won their last five games against Australia and four of the last five at Twickenham against the Wallabies.

England
15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 24 caps)
14 Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 1 cap)
13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 16 caps)
12 Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors, 15 caps)
11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 39 caps)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 64 caps) co-captain
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 79 caps)

1 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 31 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 16 caps)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 25 caps)
5 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 67 caps)
6 Brad Shields (Wasps, 4 caps)
7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 8 caps)
8 Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 7 caps)

Replacements
16 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 96 caps) co-captain
17 Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps)
18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 14 caps)
19 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 9 caps)
20 Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 17 caps)
21 Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 32 caps)
22 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 50 caps)
23 Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 26 caps)

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