Chiefs quartet to face Springboks

By Mark Stevens
24/11/22

Four Exeter Chiefs players have been named in Eddie Jones' England squad that will take on South Africa this weekend.

England will host the Springboks at Twickenham Stadium in their final Autumn Nations Series game on Saturday 26 November (5.30pm KO).

Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell, Sam Simmonds and Henry Slade - all of whom featured in last weekend's 25-25 draw with New Zealand - will start the contest on the bench.

Elsewhere, Manu Tuilagi makes his 50th appearance at outside centre, lining up in the midfield alongside captain Owen Farrell.

Tommy Freeman comes in at right wing ahead of Nowell, while Jamie George is prefereed at hooker in place of Cowan-Dickie. Mako Vunipola joins fellow prop Kyle Sinckler in the other change to the starting front-row.

Maro Itoje and Jonny Hill stay at lock, Alex Coles comes in at flanker for Simmonds with Tom Curry and Billy Vunipola completing the back five.

The two sides last faced each other in November 2021, where England won a close match 27-26.

Jones said: “This is our last game of the autumn and our chance to continue building on the improvements we have made throughout the matches. 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.”

England v South Africa is live on Amazon Prime Video and talkSPORT.

ENGLAND SIDE TO FACE SOUTH AFRICA

15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 16 caps)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
13. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 49 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (Saracens, capt 100 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 71 caps)
10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 16 caps)
9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps)
1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 73 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 71 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 55 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 61 caps)
5. Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 18 caps)
6. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 44 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 67 caps)

16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 40 caps)
17. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 42 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 24 caps)
19. David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
20. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 17 caps)
21. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 120 caps)
22. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 51 caps)
23. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 44 caps)