Courtney Lawes to captain England against Fiji

Courtney Lawes will be captaining England on what will be his 100th Test appearance
©PA
England head coach Steve Borthwick has named Courtney Lawes as the captain for the final World Cup warm-up fixture against Fiji to be played on Saturday.

The decision follows after Owen Farrell will miss the encounter along with the first two Pool World Cup games against Argentina and Japan due to a suspension. Lawes will lead the side on what will be his 100th Test with George Ford and Ellis Genge named his deputies.

Lawes will be part of back row that also has Jack Willis and Ben Earl while Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum are the preferred locks.

Theo Dan will make his first start at hooker and his joined by Dan Cole and Genge in the rest of the front row with Ford starting at fly-half forming half back partnership with Alex Mitchell.

Jonny May, Max Malins and Freddie Steward form the back three with Manu Tuilagi and Ollie Lawrence forming the midfield partnership.

“All of the Summer Nations Series Test matches have provided us with an opportunity to continue our preparations for the Rugby World Cup in France,” said Borthwick.

“Fiji have proven themselves to be a strong opposition and we look forward to what we expect to be an exciting and challenging game.

“Rest assured that we will be looking to convert the opportunities we have recently been creating week-on-week into points on the scoreboard.

“At this our last Test before heading to France, I want to thank our fans for all the support you continue to give us, and it means a lot to us that you will be behind us all the way on our World Cup journey.”

England
:15 Freddie Steward, 14 Max Malins, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Jack Willis, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Ellis Genge

Reserves: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Joe Marchant

About the author