England chop George Ford for first Test against Australia

England coach Eddie Jones has dropped fly-half George Ford and moved Owen Farrell in from the centres in his starting team for the first of three tests against Australia at Brisbane's Lang Park on Saturday.

Ford has started all six of England's tests under Jones but was booed off the park in his last outing after missing six of seven kicks in the pre-tour warm-up match against Wales at Twickenham at the end of May.

The 23-year-old's relegation to the bench and Luther Burrell's inclusion at inside centre was one of only two changes to the starting line-up from the grand slam-clinching win over France at the end of the Six Nations.

The other saw Marland Yarde replace Jack Nowell on the wing after a strong outing in the 27-13 win over the Welsh.

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The pack remained the same as that which claimed a first grand slam for 13 years in Paris with rumours suggesting lock Maro Itoje might replace Chris Robshaw in the back row proving baseless.

There was no place either for New Zealand-born rugby league convert Ben Te'o, who reports from the England camp suggested might make his test debut in the centres Brisbane.

Owen Farrell of England kicks a penalty

Image credit: Reuters

Burrell missed out on the squad for last year's World Cup because of the inclusion of another rugby league convert in Sam Burgess, while Yarde was considered fortunate by some to make the squad for the tour at all.

"We have picked a side to win in Brisbane," Jones said in a news release.

"We aim to win every test match we play and I am pleased with our preparation since we landed in Australia. The group have acclimatised well, trained hard and there's a buzz around the camp.

"We have a young squad with an average age of 24 so we are still developing and improving. It'll be a great challenge for us and one we're looking forward to meeting head on."

England

15-Mike Brown, 14-Anthony Watson, 13-Jonathan Joseph, 12-Luther Burrell, 11-Marland Yarde, 10-Owen Farrell, 9-Ben Youngs, 8-Billy Vunipola, 7-James Haskell, 6-Chris Robshaw, 5-George Kruis, 4-Maro Itoje, 3-Dan Cole, 2-Dylan Hartley (captain), 1-Mako Vunipola.

Replacements: 16-Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17-Matt Mullan, 18-Paul Hill, 19-Joe Launchbury, 20-Courtney Lawes, 21-Danny Care, 22-George Ford, 23-Jack Nowell

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