Trio of Bath Rugby stars start for England against the All Blacks

England head coach Steve Borthwick has selected three Bath Rugby stars in his starting side to face the All Blacks on Saturday with scrum-half Ben Spencer also added to the bench.

Borthwick has made two changes to his starting side that defeated Japan 17-52 in Tokyo 10 days ago with Bath tighthead Will Stuart and Harlequins loosehead prop Joe Marler both coming into the side. Bath centre Ollie Lawrence and flanker Sam Underhill keep their places in the side.

Saracens veteran hooker Jamie George will skipper the side once again, supported by four vice-captains: Maro Itoje, Ben Earl, Henry Slade and Marler. At lock, Itoje partners George Martin. The back row sees Underhill at openside flanker, Chandler Cunningham-South on the blindside, and Earl at number eight.

In the half-back berths, scrum-half Alex Mitchell is paired with Marcus Smith at 10. The midfield sees Lawrence named at inside centre with Slade at 13. In the back three, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso starts on the right wing, with Tommy Freeman on the left and George Furbank selected at full-back to round off the starting line-up.

Amongst the replacements, the uncapped duo of Fin Baxter and Ollie Sleightholme are poised to win their first England caps from the bench. Alex Coles is also called into the match day 23, alongside Theo Dan, Dan Cole, Tom Curry, and Fin Smith. Leicester veteran Cole will win his 114th cap to equal Jason Leonard as England's second-most-capped men's player.

Borthwick said: “It doesn’t get more challenging than playing New Zealand at home, but it’s exactly where we want to be."We want to find out more about ourselves and test ourselves against one of the best teams in the world.

Test rugby is a game of fine margins, so our mindset is going to be very important on Saturday. We’ll need to be mentally strong, play a tactically smart game and ensure we maintain our discipline.

“The Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin is a great venue with a quick surface, and the closed roof should make the atmosphere very special.”

The games kicks off at 8.05am UK time on Saturday morning and is being shown live on Sky Sports.

England

15. George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 10 caps)
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 4 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 63 caps) – vice-captain
12. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 25 caps)
11. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 9 caps)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 33 caps)
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 16 caps)
1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 94 caps) – vice-captain
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 91 caps) – captain
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 39 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 82 caps) – vice-captain
5. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 13 caps)
6. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 5 caps)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 36 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 31 caps) – vice-captain

Replacements:

16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 13 caps)
17. Fin Baxter (Harlequins, uncapped)
18. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 113 caps)
19. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
20. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 51 caps)
21. Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby, 5 caps)
22. Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
23. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, uncapped)