Ellis Genge wasn’t pleased about being left on the bench by Eddie Jones for England’s clash with South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.
The changes to England’s pack see the Bristol loose-head and Luke Cowan-Dickie drop to the bench, though Jones also spoke positively about the strength England will bring off the bench.
Sources inside the camp suggest the England boss is hopeful that a ‘p***ed off’ Genge will make a huge impact off the bench against the Springboks.
“We feel Mako will be good starting and you look at who can potentially come on for us in the second half,” revealed Jones.
“Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Will Stuart – that’s a powerful front row.
Jones went onto add: “He’ll be very fired up, he doesn’t like being on the bench.”
Eddie Jones said on the game:
“This is our last game of the autumn and our chance to continue building on the improvements we have made throughout the matches,” said Jones.
“We have made steady progress from game-to-game, culminating in a pulsating draw against New Zealand.
“Now we have the chance to test ourselves against the might of the world champions. We’re going out there to light the crowd up. The support at Twickenham was outstanding last week and we want to work hard on the pitch to make sure we have another atmosphere like that again on Saturday.”
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England team to play South Africa:
15. Freddie Steward
14. Tommy Freeman
13. Manu Tuilagi
12. Owen Farrell (C)
11. Jonny May
10. Marcus Smith
9. Jack van Poortvliet
1. Mako Vunipola
2. Jamie George
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. Maro Itoje
5. Jonny Hill
6. Alex Coles
7. Tom Curry
8. Billy Vunipola
Finishers
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie
17. Ellis Genge
18. Will Stuart
19. David Ribbans
20. Sam Simmonds
21. Ben Youngs
22. Henry Slade
23. Jack Nowell
Every Premiership Rugby sides marquee players and their reported salary
Bath RFC: None (was previously Taulupe Faletau)
Bristol Bears: Charles Piutau – £1,000,000 per season
Exeter Chiefs: Stuart Hogg – £500,000
