Six Chiefs named in England squad

By Mark Stevens
21/6/18

Six Exeter Chiefs players have been included in Eddie Jones' England side to face South Africa in the final of three Tests at Newlands, Cape Town on Saturday (4:05pm).

Henry Slade again starts the match at outside centre, while club-mates Luke Cowan-Dickie, Alec Hepburn, Harry Williams, Jonny Hill and Sam Simmonds are all named among the replacements.

Hill's inclusion marks a first-ever match-day call-up to the senior squad, while Hepburn and Simmonds are also included for the first time on this tour. Hepburn was called up last weekend after Ellis Genge and Mako Vunipola were forced out of the final fixture of the summer tour.

Elsewhere, there are three changes to the starting XV with Joe Marler (Harlequins) named in the front row replacing Mako Vunipola (Saracens), who returned home for family reasons earlier this week.

Danny Cipriani (Wasps) will make his first start for England since 2008, replacing George Ford (Leicester Tigers) at fly half. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) replaces Brad Shields (Hurricanes/ Wasps) at blindside flanker due to illness.

Jones said: “We’ve had a really upbeat training week. We are up for the battle and are going to rip in on Saturday. We want another committed performance where it will be crucial to maintain our composure when the heat is on.

“We are expecting a wet and windy old day at Newlands and have elected to play Danny Cipriani ahead of George Ford to give us a left-foot kicking option. We will need to jump out of the blocks quickly again and make sure we maintain that pressure and make good decisions.

“I’ve been really impressed with the fortitude of the squad under Owen Farrell, who is a young captain, and with a number of young players who have really stuck to the task."

England side to face South Africa

15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 20 caps)
14 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 36 caps)
13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 12 caps)
12 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 60 caps, capt)
11 Mike Brown (Harlequins, 71 caps)
10 Danny Cipriani (Wasps, 15 caps)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 76 caps)
1 Joe Marler (Harlequins, 58 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 27 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 12 caps)
4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 53 caps)
5 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 21 caps)
6 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, 65 caps)
7 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 3 cap)
8 Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 16 caps)

16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 7 caps)
17 Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs, 2 caps)
18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps)
19 Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 0 caps)
20 Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 3 caps)
21 Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 7 caps)
22 Ben Spencer (Saracens, 2 cap)
23 Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks, 4 caps)