Freddie Steward and Tom Roebuck return from injury for England’s showdown with New Zealand, though Tommy Freeman and Ollie Chessum are both sidelined as George Ford makes his return at fly-half.
Full-back Steward and wing Roebuck started the opening fixture of the Autumn Nations Series, a routine 25-7 victory over Australia, though neither was available for last weekend’s 38-18 win against Fiji due to hand and ankle issues respectively.
However, both players returned to training at Pennyhill Park this week and each make a swift return after head coach Steve Borthwick made seven changes to his team to face the All Blacks at Allianz Stadium Twickenham on Saturday, seeking a 10th consecutive win.
Steward is in at No15 for Marcus Smith, who is one of six British and Irish Lions named on England’s strong bench.
Roebuck, meanwhile, takes the place of Freeman on the right wing after the latter shifted from outside centre back out wide against Fiji, only to suffer a hamstring injury as Henry Arundell came on to score an eye-catching try on his long-awaited return to international rugby following a stint in France.
With Freeman out, Ollie Lawrence and Fraser Dingwall continue as the first-choice centre pairing, with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso retaining his place on the left wing and Ford restored alongside Alex Mitchell at half-back after Fin Smith took the No10 shirt against Fiji.
Fin Smith is omitted entirely against New Zealand with versatile namesake Marcus preferred as a replacement.
In the pack, Chessum misses out with a foot problem, meaning Alex Coles gets the nod alongside returning captain Maro Itoje at lock.
Fin Baxter and Jamie George return to the front row in place of Ellis Genge and Luke Cowan-Dickie as Joe Heyes stays at tighthead prop, while Guy Pepper continues in the back row alongside Ben Earl, who moves from openside flanker back to No8 as Chandler Cunningham-South makes way for Sam Underhill.
Borthwick continues with a 6-2 bench split, with Marcus Smith and Ben Spencer providing the only back cover.
“I’m pleased with the progress we are making,” said Borthwick, whose side finish their autumn campaign against Argentina next weekend. “Without doubt, New Zealand are one of the best teams in the world and facing them is always a special challenge.
“Playing in front of a packed-out Allianz Stadium means a huge amount to the players. The support we’ve had throughout this series has been outstanding, and we want it loud again on Saturday.”
New Zealand head to Twickenham having followed up a 26-13 victory over Ireland in Chicago with a dramatic win over Scotland at Murrayfield in which they initially threw away a 17-0 half-time lead before winning 25-17 courtesy of Damian McKenzie’s late heroics.
England team to face New Zealand
Steward; Roebuck, Lawrence, Dingwall, Feyi-Waboso; Ford, Mitchell; Baxter, George, Heyes; Itoje (c), Coles; Pepper, Underhill, Earl
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge, Stuart, Cunningham-South, Curry, Pollock, Spencer, M Smith
