England vs New Zealand

Kickoff:  3:10pm, Saturday 13th November

Venue: The Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

Watch on: TNT Sports 1

England's Autumn Nations has, so far, been a major success. Despite being only halfway through their fixtures, they have already won more games than they did last year. The secret to their success has been the bench, or "Pom Squad" as it has been dubbed, which includes 6 British and Irish Lions in the line-up for this game. New Zealand, meanwhile, have also had a good series with wins over Ireland and Scotland so will be feeling confident coming into this game.

Steve Borthwick has selected this team in line with the theme from the past 2 weeks; the bench is ridiculously stacked and will be brought on to make the difference in the closing stages. Cowan-Dickie, Genge and Stuart are England's best front row and will be on the bench with their fellow Lions Henry Pollock and Tom Curry. The only question mark surrounding the pack comes in the second row due to an injury to Ollie Chessum. His injury exposes England's lack of depth with George Martin already out for the rest of the year. Arthur Clark and Charlie Ewels, who both played for England over the summer, are injured but Nick Isiekwe is fit. If Isiekwe is fit, and hasn't been selected ahead of a back row at his own position, one has to wonder if Steve Borthwick rates him at all. 

There have been a few changes in the back line. The big news is the return of George Ford at fly-half despite Fin Smith's performance against Fiji. He was booed by a section of England supporters when he came onto the field in this fixture last year but has since reminded England fans why he will go down as one of England's most capped players of all time. Elsewhere, Tommy Freeman is injured and Tom Roebuck and Freddie Steward are both healthy. This means that Marcus Smith drops to the bench whilst Steward and Roebuck join Feyi-Waboso in the back 3. Marcus Smith joins Ben Spencer on the bench and will provide Borthwick with some flexibility in the second half.

New Zealand have been boosted by the return of Scott Barrett and now have 2/3 of their usual number of Barretts due to the continued absence of Jordie. Beauden starts at fly-half, thus keeping Damian McKenzie on the bench. In midfield, Billy Proctor comes in to replace Fainga-anuka who moves to the left wing in place of Caleb Clarke. Leroy Carter stays on the other wing with Will Jordan at fullback. 

There is a lot of talk about England's bench, but the All Blacks also have a very strong bench. Wallace Sititi was just breaking onto the scene when these sides met in 2024 and he has since cemented himself as a star for his country. His team's back row depth is the only reason that he is having to settle for a spot on the bench. The backs will also bring on more experience in the form of Leinert-Brown and McKenzie.

The last 5 games between these countries have been absolute epics and this game should be no different. New Zealand look very strong, but this feels like the moment in which England can truly announce their presence as a premier team in World Rugby. 

England

Starting XV

1.Fin Baxter 2.Jamie George 3.Joe Heyes 4.Maro Itoje(C) 5.Alex Coles

6.Guy Pepper 7.Sam Underhill 8.Ben Earl 9.Alex Mitchell 10.George Ford

11.Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 12.Fraser Dingwall 13.Ollie Lawrence 14.Tom Roebuck 15.Freddie Steward

Bench

16.Luke Cowan-Dickie 17.Ellis Genge 18.Will Stuart 19.Chandler Cunningham-South

20.Tom Curry 21.Henry Pollock 22.Ben Spencer 23.Marcus Smith

New Zealand

Starting XV

1.Ethan de Groot 2.Codie Taylor 3.Fletcher Newell 4.Scott Barrett 5.Fabian Holland

6.Simon Parker 7.Ardie Savea 8.Peter Lakai 9.Cam Roigard 10.Beauden Barrett

11.Leicester Fainga'anuku 12.Quinn Tupea 13.Billy Proctor 14.Leroy Carter 15.Will Jordan

Bench

16.Samison Taukei'aho 17.Tamaiti Williams 18.Pasilio Tosi 19.Josh Lord

20.Wallace Sititi 21.Cortez Ratima 22.Anton Leinert-Brown 23.Damian McKenzie