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Fin Baxter promoted as England chase history at Eden Park
By PA
Fin Baxter will make his first start for England in the second Test against New Zealand on Saturday.
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The 22-year-old Harlequins prop, who won his first cap off the bench in the 16-15 first Test defeat in Dunedin, again replaces his clubmate Joe Marler who has been ruled out with a foot injury.
Bevan Rodd comes onto the bench in the only other change to the squad for Auckland.
By contrast, fellow prop Dan Cole will win his 115th cap from the bench at Eden Park to become England’s second most-capped men’s player behind Ben Youngs (127).
England coach Steve Borthwick paid tribute to Cole, who will move ahead of Jason Leonard.
“Dan has shown nothing but dedication and determination throughout his career, and reaching this milestone is a remarkable feat,” he said.
“He is a superb rugby player, a wonderful role model and we all look forward to sharing a memorable day with him on Saturday.
“Eden Park is a stadium packed with history and with memories of great rugby encounters.
“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.”
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Scrum-half Finlay Christie is the only new face in the New Zealand starting line-up, replacing the injured TJ Perenara, with the uncapped Cortez Ratima taking his place on the bench.
England side to face New Zealand in game 2
15. George Furbank
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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
Finn Baxter, my favorite kind of athlete, because he doesn’t look like one 🤣, I love this kid, looks like he should be sat at the counter of the local ice cream store, chowing down on a chocolate sundae. Not going head to head with some of the biggest nastiest test match props in the world? Bless him, he is going to have a stellar career and will be a pillar of the English pack for the next decade or more, mark my words.
It should be a close tussle. AB’s now have at least three very difficult opponents in world rugby union.
The dude looks like someone took the head of a 12 year old kid and stuck it on the body of a full grown man.
Good player alright
That pic though does not reek athlete
More like the kid off Willie Wonka
Wales had never beaten Bok until ‘22, Irish won series in NZ, Italy beat WBs, & many more.
England can dominate lineout, do this and kick all points then it is do'able.
Baxter is very hand back up. Will ensure scrum parity.
Fin Baxter has such a baby face
I’d be very suprised if Eng get a result at Eden Park. All Blacks haven’t lost a test there since 1994. Records are meant to be broken but just can’t see it happening this weekend.