Brad Shields and Ben Spencer are in line to make their international debuts from the replacements bench after England head coach Eddie Jones named his team to play South Africa on Saturday.
Saracens playmaker Owen Farrell will captain the side from inside centre, while club team-mate Mako Vunipola will run out for his 50th England cap at Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg.
Jones has included seven players in the starting XV who were involved in the Aviva Premiership final between Saracens and Exeter Chiefs two weekends ago, including Billy Vunipola at No.8
Nick Isiekwe will make his first start for England, in the second row, whilst Jones has named uncapped forward Shields (Hurricanes/ Wasps) and scrum-half Spencer (Saracens) as replacements.
Elliot Daly starts at full-back and Henry Slade is named at centre, whilst Sale Sharks’ Tom Curry earns his second cap wearing the No.7 shirt.
WHAT THEY SAID:
Jones commented: “We have had a really good week in preparation for this weekend and we are pleased with the way the squad has come together.
“Owen Farrell has settled in well to his new role, with the senior players supporting him, and there is a good feeling within the camp.
“We want to do something special on this tour and the players are all incredibly excited about this challenge and opportunity we have.
“Ellis Park is the spiritual homeland of South African rugby and the Springboks play to another level on that ground, so we know we have to raise our game physically early on and be enormously accurate in the way we play.”
THE OPPOSITION
There are few stadiums that can match Ellis Park for history and atmosphere and England’s Chris Robshaw insists it is up there with Twickenham as the greatest arena he has ever played in.
The Springboks have a superb home record against England but it all change in their squad, with three Test debutantes in S’busiso Nkosi, Aphiwe Dyantyi and RG Snyman.
Siya Kolisi becomes the first black player to captain South Africa in a Test match while Wasps full-back Willie Le Roux and Sale Sharks scrum-half Faf de Klerk will be familiar opposition.
England will play South Africa in three Tests in Johannesburg (9 June), Bloemfontein (16 June) and Cape Town (23 June). All matches kick off at 17.05 local time (16.05 BST). England team to face South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday 9 June: 15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 18 caps) 14 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 34 caps) 13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps) 12 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 58 caps) 11 Mike Brown (Harlequins, 69 caps) 10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 45 caps) 9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 74 caps) 1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 49 caps) 2 Jamie George (Saracens, 25 caps) 3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 10 caps) 4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 19 caps) 5 Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 2 caps) 6 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, 64 caps) 7 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 1 cap) 8 Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 34 caps) Replacements 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps) 17 Joe Marler (Harlequins, 56 caps) 18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 8 caps) 19 Brad Shields (Hurricanes/ Wasps, 0 caps) 20 Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 14 caps) 21 Ben Spencer (Saracens, 0 caps) 22 Piers Francis (Northampton Saints, 3 caps) 23 Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
