England drop George Ford with Owen Farrell at fly-half for Australia clash

• Captain restored at No 10 for Saturday’s quarter-final
• Eddie Jones springs major surprise in benching Ford

Eddie Jones has sprung a huge surprise by dropping George Ford and naming Owen Farrell at fly-half for England’s World Cup quarter-final against Australia on Saturday. Ford has been among England’s best performers at the World Cup so far but Jones has opted to restore his captain to the No 10 jersey.

Henry Slade comes in at outside centre with Manu Tuilagi moving to No 12 while Mako Vunipola comes in at loosehead prop for his first start since May following a hamstring injury. Courtney Lawes is preferred to George Kruis in the second row while Billy Vunipola also makes his 13th consecutive start for England having recovered from his ankle injury.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2pnS5mH