Fin Smith to start at 10 in much-changed England side

Quilter Nations Series: England v Fiji

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday, 8 November Kick-off: 17:40 GMT

Fin Smith will start at fly-half against Fiji on Saturday, with Marcus Smith at full-back and regular captain Maro Itoje on the bench, as England head coach Steve Borthwick rotates through his combinations once more.

Chandler Cunningham-South, who can play at flanker and second row, will make his first Test start at number eight as Borthwick attempts to add depth in the position following Tom Willis’ decision to move to France at the end of the season and out of international eligibility.

Lawrence tore his Achilles tendon in the Six Nations win over Italy in March, but has made a faster-than-expected recovery after a rehabilitation, featuring hyperbaric chambers and red light therapy, which he documented on social media.

Northampton’s Alex Coles comes into the second row, with Itoje’s influence saved for the second half. Prop Ellis Genge, back in the starting line-up, will be the on-field captain from the start.

England: M Smith; Freeman, Lawrence, Dingwall, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Heyes, Coles, Chessum, Pepper, Earl, Cunningham-South

England assistant coach Kevin Sinfield admitted that frustration was inevitable among his trio of fly-halves.

“You don’t,” he told Rugby Union Weekly when asked how he managed to keep them all happy.

“But that is how it should be. At this level there is always someone who is a little disgruntled, who has maybe has a little bit of frustration.

“They are all impatient because they all want to play now, and want the shirt now, but an understanding of that is how it is different to their clubs – and their selflessness and putting the team first – is really important.

“Of course it takes some managing, but they are all good guys and understand the value of the team and that sometimes they are going to get bad news and have to work through it like everyone else.

“We have seen other nations be able to interchange who starts at 10 and done it very, very well. The quality of our 10s means we are able to do similar.”

Fin Smith, the youngest of the three fly-half options at 23, oversaw England’s successful end to last year’s Six Nations after being handed his first Test start in the wake of an opening-round defeat by Ireland.

With him at 10, England won their remaining four games to come second in the table, their highest finish since lifting the title in the Covid-affected 2020 tournament.

However Smith admitted he was disappointed by his form on the subsequent Lions tour, as he was unable to mount a serious challenge to Scotland’s Finn Russell as the Test 10.

Sale prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour is named on the bench with British and Irish Lion Will Stuart left out of the squad, while Bath’s Henry Arundell, whose last England appearance before a move to Racing 92 was at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, is the only backline cover among the replacements.

England have won eight of their nine meetings with Fiji, most recently prevailing 30-24 in a bruising quarter-final at France 2023.