A leaked England XV for their clash with Australia sees Henry Slade miss out on a starting place despite his man of the match display against Tonga last weekend.
On Wednesday night, the Mail Online reported that: “indications were that Jones was preparing to unleash Smith and Farrell together in a new 10-12 alliance.
“This is the combination which the head coach had spoken about wanting to try out, before Smith was hampered by a leg injury and Farrell was withdrawn from the Tonga game due to a Covid scare, which was eventually ruled to have been a false positive.
“If Jones does pick the 22-year-old alongside Farrell, it will lead to a reshuffle in midfield. Henry Slade was named man of the match against Tonga and Manu Tuilagi was impressive too. Neither centre deserves to be left out but something has to give. It will be a tight call at 13.
England’s autumn fixtures
- England 69-3 Tonga, 3.15pm on Sat 6 Nov
- England vs Australia, 5.30pm on Sat 13 Nov
- England vs South Africa, 3.15pm on Sat 20 Nov
Where to watch the Autumn Nations Series:
Prime members can watch the Autumn Nations Series live from 30th October with the Prime Video app on TVs, mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire tablets, games consoles, on Virgin’s V6 TV Box, the Talk Talk TV set top box, Apple TV, Chromecast, BT TV or online.
For a list of all compatible devices visit amazon.co.uk/watchanywhere.
Confirmed England XV:
#BACK-THREE:
- 15. Freddie Steward
- 14. Jonny May
- 11. Manu Tuilagi
#CENTRES:
- 13. Henry Slade
- 12. Owen Farrell