England vs USA preview

England vs USA
Kickoff: 5:05pm Local time, 10:05pm GMT

Location: Washington DC, USA
Stadium: Audi Field (20,000 capacity)

Watch on: RFU Youtube Channel or CBS Sports in the USA

England

1.Bevan Rodd 2.Curtis Langdon 3.Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4.Alex Coles 5.Arthur Clark

6.Chandler Cunningham-South 7.Guy Pepper 8.Alex Dombrandt 9.Jack Van Poortvliet 10.George Ford

11.Cadan Murley 12.Max Ojomoh 13.Luke Northmore 14.Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 15.Joe Carpenter

16.Gabriel Oghre 17.Fin Baxter 18.Trevor Davison 19.Ted Hill

20.Ben Curry 21.Harry Randall 22.Charlie Atkinson 23.Oscar Beard

USA

1.Ezekiel Lindenmuth 2.Kaleb Geiger 3.Pono Davis 4.Marno Redelinghuys 5.Tevita Naqali

6.Benjamin Bonasso 7.Cory Daniel 8.Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz 9.Ruben De Haas 10.Chris Hilsenbeck

11.Toby Fricker 12.Tom Pittman 13.Dominic Besag 14.Rufus McLean 15.Erich Storti

16.Shilo Klein 17.Jack Iscaro 18.Tonga Kofe 19.Villiami Helu 

20.Christian Poidevin 21.Makeen Alikhan 22.JP Smith 23.Lauina Futi

England will finish their successful summer in the Americas with a game against the USA Eagles in Washington DC. These kinds of games are more rare than they should be and, with the context of Ireland's 106-7 win over Portugal, is the type of fixture that must be protected. In a world in which the top nations are closing off even more from the developing sides, games like this need to happen as often as possible. England may not learn much but this is a good opportunity for some youngsters to get debuts and gain experience.

England has several players who will be making their official debuts on Saturday: Joe Carpenter, Max Ojomoh and Arthur Clark will all start with Gabriel Oghre, Charlie Atkinson and Oscar Beard hoping to earn their first cap when coming off the bench. To put things into perspective, George Ford has more caps than the other 14 players in the starting XV, combined. 

Up front, Bevan Rodd and Fin Baxter have flipped spots so the Sale Shark will now start at loosehead. He'll be next to Curtis Langdon who will provide a solid base for the pack. At tighthead, Asher Opoku-Fordjour is developing nicely for England without being thrown in too often but he'll get some more experience in a less tense environment here. Alex Coles has stepped up well on this tour and looks like the clear favourite to be the fourth lock in the squad when everyone is available. One man who'll be hoping to make a push for that spot is the Gloucester man, Arthur Clark. The 20-year-old has quickly become an integral player for George Skivington and is ready to push on for England. In the back row, Chandler Cunningham-South has been one of the disappointing players on this tour having struggled to crack the starting line up despite Earl, Pollock, Chessum and Tom Curry all being away with the Lions. He is starting in the back row to begin with but, with Hill and Curry being the only loose forwards on the bench, it's likely that one of Cunningham-South and Ted Hill will move to lock later in the game. He is joined in the back row by two players who will be looking to prove a point. Dombrandt looked good against France XV but is probably now the third choice behind Willis and Earl.Pepper is a victim of depth; he is obviously good enough to start test matches but has lacked opportunities. This game might be against the USA, but he needs to take every chance he can possibly get.

Jack Van Poortvliet and George Ford are a fairly experienced duo who will be tasked with marshalling an inexperienced group against an opposition which will be looking to startle England early on. Charlie Atkinson will be hoping to make his debut later on but is not even a regular starter for Gloucester. England obviously have incredible fly halves but, behind the obvious four, there is a dearth of Freddie Burns-style players who can come in and manage this kind of game comfortably. In midfield, England have opted for a powerful up of Ojomoh and Northmore who will look to set England up by dominating the gain line. The most exciting part of this England line up comes on the wings with Murley and Feyi-Waboso. Both are electric athletes who can score from anywhere. They have the kind of skillsets which could allow them to show off in games like this. Elsewhere, Carpenter gets a much-deserved start at fullback and Oscar Beard will finally make his debut having seemingly been in every camp for the last two years without getting a game.

As for the hosts, they are coming off a disappointing defeat to Spain and are missing some key players. However, there are still some players to watch out for for a team which is basically guaranteed to be at the next World Cup thanks to World Rugby's qualification system. 

At fly half, USA are missing AJ McGinty who Premiership fans will be familiar with due to his exploits with the Bristol Bears. He is replaved by Chris Hisenbeck who is a former German international now competing for the States. He has been one of the best players in MLR for the Chicago Hounds so is not to be taken lightly by the visitors. Another player who may be familiar to English fans is Toby Fricker, The Anthem RC winger spent the early part of this season providing injury cover for the Bears. 

The two Americans who viewers should keep their eyes on are Dominic Besag and Erich Storti. Both of these players are home-grown talents who have come through the college system. Storti was drafted by Anthem who were created in partnserhip with World Rugby to help develop American players in preparation for the 2031 World Cup in the States. Storti is a fadcinating talent who has spent time at both outside centre and fullback. In this game he'll be starting in the 15 shirt to make space for Besag who is still in college but is already a capped international. Between these two, and the likes of Toby Fricker, the USA will definitely pose some threats to England - even if they are expected to lose comfortably.