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Two changes for England who also name Opoku-Fordjour on their bench

England line up for the anthems last week versus South Africa (Photo by Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Steve Borthwick will look to end his England team’s five-game winless run with an XV to host Japan that has two changes from last weekend’s defeat to South Africa and a rejigged bench that includes 20-year-old rookie Asher Opoku-Fordjour.

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The English lost out 20-29 to the Springboks and they will now close out their Autumn Nations Series with one change to their starting backs and one in their pack.

Dropped last weekend, George Furbank has been reinstated as the starting full-back with Freddie Steward excluded. Up front, the solitary change is the recall of the fit-again Tom Curry at the expense of Chandler Cunningham-South, who drops to the bench where he takes the spot that was held by Alex Dombrandt.

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Curry was knocked out in the first half of the November 9 loss to Australia, but he has been declared fit to pack down at blindside 15 days later in a back row where Sam Underhill, his replacement for the South Africa match, has retained his place.

Cunningham-South is one of three bench alterations with Opoku-Fordjour, a World Rugby U20 Championship winner last July in Cape Town, chosen ahead of regular tighthead back-up Dan Cole. There is also a call-up for Fin Smith, with George Ford missing out.

Team Form

Last 5 Games

1
Wins
1
1
Streak
1
19
Tries Scored
14
22
Points Difference
-138
3/5
First Try
2/5
4/5
First Points
2/5
3/5
Race To 10 Points
1/5

Ford was on the bench for the three previous November outings, but he was left in the stands as an unused option versus the Springboks and now gives way to Smith.

In an RFU team announcement statement, Borthwick said: “We anticipate a tough challenge from a team that thrives on playing fast and with tempo. Japan are a dangerous team so it’s important that we execute our game plan and maintain focus throughout the full 80 minutes.”

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England (vs Japan, Sunday)
15. George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 13 caps)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 14 caps)
13. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 30 caps)
12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 68 caps)
11. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 38 caps)
9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 15 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 65 caps) – vice-captain
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 96 caps) – captain
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 44 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 87 caps) – vice-captain
5. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 18 caps)
6. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 55 caps)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 39 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 36 caps) – vice-captain

Replacements:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 43 caps)
17. Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 5 caps)
18. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, uncapped)
19. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 14 caps)
20. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 10 caps)
21. Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 10 caps)
22. Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
23. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)

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Comments

1 Comment
T
Tom 18 days ago

Clearly Dombrandt isn't good enough but why even have him in the squad only to drop him for Japan and bring back an out of form Tom Curry? Give Curry the week off, he looks like he could do with a break!

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Nickers 17 minutes ago
'Razor's conservatism is in danger of halting New Zealand's progress'

Razor seems totally at sea to me.


He squandered his first year when he could have been bringing in loads of new players at the expense of results. Instead he chased the win from week to week, ironically using the same players that have been underperforming and NOT winning for years to put in mediocre performances.


The new generation of players is here right now but Razor is clearly not ready for them. Lakai, Love, Proctor, Plummer etc... could all have 5 or so games under their belt. Instead they get 2 minutes at the end of the game to win a "cap" like this is still the 80s.


He had a license to be bold this year - an obligation after 4 years of conservatism under Fozzie. But in reality it wasn't until inuries forced his hand that any progress was made this season.


Worryingly, much like Fozzie, he seems unable to diagnose and fix what is not working on attack. He desperately needs some better assistants around him.


The comparison to SA is not really a fair one. Rassie is probably under the least pressure of anyone in all of World Rugby this year coming off back to back World Cups win. It's like the ABs in 2016 - everyone thought they would have a post world cup slump but it was the exact opposite. With no pressure and no fear they payed some of the most incredible rugby that has ever been played by the All Blacks, every new player was an instant super star and it seemed like nothing could go wrong. Much the same way 2017 hit the ABs like a ton of bricks I'm sure SA will endure something similar in 2025.

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