England rugby coach Eddie Jones kept faith in his Six Nations-winning forwards when he named his team for the first Test against Australia in Brisbane tomorrow.
Jones kept Maro Itoje in the second row for the opening Test of the three-match series despite speculation he would move the rising star to blindside flanker. The same pack took the field when England beat France in Paris to win the Six Nations earlier this year.
“The selection’s becoming more difficult as we go on,” Jones said. “We’ve got 32 players competing for 23 spots and some of the guys who played exceptionally well against Wales (in a warm-up match) are not even in the 23, let alone the 15. “It’s a good indication of the growing depth of England rugby.”
Jones’s decision to keep Itoje at lock means Chris Robshaw retains his number six jersey alongside James Haskell and Mako Vunipola in the back row. Robshaw and Haskell will be tasked with keeping tabs on the mobile Australian back row, and number eight David Pocock in particular.
“Pocock’s an exceptional player and he’s always going to be a threat,” Jones said. “If he’s playing on Mars he’s going to be a threat. We know we’ve got to cope with him, but it’s part of the game and we’ll deal with him.”
Owen Farrell won the nod at fly-half over George Ford, but Jones said he expected Ford to play for the last 20 minutes. Jones said it was a matter of horses for courses and that Farrell was well-equipped for the expected physicality of the contest.
“It’s more about how we want to play in the first Test of the series,” he said. “It’s going to be a physical game and we’ve picked a backline that we think is going to cope with that for the first 50 or 60 minutes, but George will play a significant part in the game.”
Harlequins flier Marland Yarde was selected on the wing ahead of Jack Nowell, who will start on the bench. Jones said he was looking forward to the challenge ahead. “This tour presents a great opportunity fot the team to learn, and improve, and keep working towards our goal,” he said. “We’re playing an Aussie team that’s second-ranked in the world, coached by the world’s best coach (Michael Cheika) so it’s a great challenge for us.”
The teams
Australia: Israel Folau; Dane Haylett-Petty, Tevita Kuridrani, Samu Kerevi, Rob Horne; Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps; David Pocock, Michael Hooper, Scott Fardy; Rob Simmons, Rory Arnold; Greg Holmes, Stephen Moore (capt), Scott Sio.
Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Sekope Kepu, James Horwill, Dean Mumm, Sean McMahon, Nick Frisby, Christian Leali’ifano.
England: Mike Brown; Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Luther Burrell, Marland Yarde; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Billy Vunipola, James Haskell, Chris Robshaw; George Kruis, Maro Itoje; Dan Cole, Dylan Hartley (capt), Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: Luke Cowen-Dickie, Matt Mullan, Paul Hill, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Danny Care, George Ford, Jack Nowell.
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

De Klerk wins first Springbok cap
Cape Town: Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk will make his debut for South Africa against Ireland tomorrow as new Springbok coach Allister Coetzee picked a team based on form rather than transformation yesterday.
The Lions number nine is the only uncapped player in the starting line-up for the first of three tests against the Irish at Newlands which marks the start of a new era for Springbok rugby. The 24-year-old De Klerk replaces Ruan Pienaar, who made himself unavailable for the series.
More than half of the team named in the line-up played in South Africa’s last outing in October when they beat Argentina in the third-place playoff at the Rugby World Cup in London.
“It is the start of a new era and not an easy team selection. It has been based on what is best for the Bok team,” said Coetzee, who has replaced Heyneke Meyer as coach and is tasked with building a team for the next World Cup in 2019.
Selection of South African teams has been dogged by controversy in recent years with demands for more black players to be chosen to better reflect the make-up of the country’s diverse population. But Coetzee’s team reflects more a preference for form, shown over the last months of Super Rugby, rather than any transformation agenda.
“We will select the best team for the country and whoever is not happy with that, I can’t help it. I’m happy with the choices,” the new coach told a news conference. “Faf’s got to be reined in a bit. He is a bundle of energy who does everything at 100 percent. But he’s an instinctive player who will bring something special to the team.”
Lionel Mapoe has been preferred to Jess Kriel at centre after a strong showing in Super Rugby for the Lions while flanker Siya Kolisi gets a first start after a record-equalling 13 caps as a replacement.
South Africa host an injury-depleted Ireland in the series which continues with a second test in Johannesburg on June 18 before the final game in Port Elizabeth the following weekend. “Ireland are supposedly full of injury problems but are a quality side with a good pack,” Coetzee said.”We are under no illusions. We have our job cut out for this weekend. They will put us under pressure with good line speed but we are well prepared.”
Meanwhile, Ireland have handed Paddy Jackson the role of filling the boots of injured Johnny Sexton at flyhalf.  The injury-depleted tourists have made four changes from their last international, a 35-25 win over Scotland in Dublin the Six Nations Championship in March, with Jackson set for a rare start.
Teams
South Africa: 15-Willie le Roux, 14-JP Pieterse, 13-Lionel Mapoe, 12-Damian de Allende, 11-Lwazi Mvovo, 10-Pat Lambie, 9-Faf de Klerk, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 7-Siya Kolisi, 6-Francois Louw, 5-Lood de Jager, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Frans Malherbe, 2-Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1-Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16-Bongi Mbonambi, 17-Trevor Nyakane, 18-Julian Redelinghuys, 19-Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20-Warren Whiteley, 21-Rudy Paige, 22-Elton Jantjies, 23-Jesse Kriel.
Ireland: 15-Jared Payne, 14-Andrew Trimble, 13-Robbie Henshaw, 12-Luke Marshall, 11-Keith Earls, 10-Paddy Jackson, 9-Conor Murray, 8- Jamie Heaslip, 7-Jordi Murphy, 6-CJ Stander, 5-Devin Toner, 4-Iain Henderson, 3- Mike Ross, 2- Rory Best (captain), 1-Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-Finlay Bealham, 18-Tadhg Furlong, 19-Ultan Dillane, 20-Rhys Ruddock, 21-Kieran Marmion, 22-Ian Madigan, 23-Craig Gilroy