England vs South Africa team news: Freddie Steward and Jack van Poortvliet start against the Springboks

Freddie Steward and Jack van Poortvliet have been recalled to England’s starting team to face South Africa as Steve Borthwick makes four changes.

Steward replaces George Furbank at full-back, hinting at a change in strategy, while Van Poortvliet is preferred to Ben Spencer at scrum-half and in contention to make his first international appearance since breaking his ankle last August .

Sam Underhill and Ollie Sleightholme, who is making his first international start, are recruited to replace Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, both absent due to concussion.

Marcus Smith continues at fly-half, with George Ford in contention to win his 99th cap coming off the bench.

England were beaten by the Springboks in last year’s World Cup semi-final and Borthwick is relishing the challenge as he targets a first victory of the autumn after four consecutive defeats.

“We’re excited to compete against the top-ranked team in the world and back-to-back Rugby World Cup champions,” Borthwick said.

Jack van Poortvliet is back in an England team for the first time since August 2023 (PA Archive)Jack van Poortvliet is back in an England team for the first time since August 2023 (PA Archive)

Jack van Poortvliet is back in an England team for the first time since August 2023 (PA Archive)

“Test matches against South Africa are always exciting contests, and I am sure Saturday will be no exception.”

Steward’s recall comes after a crackdown on ‘escort runners’ which made aerial competitions even more important, with the tall full-back particularly adept at it.

The Leicester man was dropped midway through the Six Nations as England looked to evolve their game, although he appeared in the second Test of the tour in New Zealand after an injury to Furbank.

Steward’s colleague Van Poortvliet is named in the squad for the first time since the serious ankle injury. The nine youngsters had been selected by Borthwick for the World Cup and looked set to travel as England’s first choice in the position before being left out of the tournament.

The England XV will face South Africa at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham (5:40 p.m. GMT, Saturday November 16): 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (captain), 3 Will Stuart; 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Martin; 6 Chandler Cunningham South, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 10 Marcus Smith; 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 12 Henry Slade, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Tommy Freeman; 15 Freddie Steward.

Substitutes: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Alex Dombrandt; 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck.

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