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Eddie Jones has finally named his England side for Saturday’s Test against Fiji after delaying his team announcement for 24 hours, with Billy Vunipola, Nathan Hughes and Elliot Daly all coming through fitness tests to feature in the matchday squad.
Both Vunipola and Daly will start the Twickenham encounter – meaning Hughes will not make his debut start against the country of his birth – with the latter moving from outside centre to the wing to accommodate a returning Jonathan Joseph in one of four personnel changes.
Hughes replaces Vunipola at No 8 as the Saracens back-row drops to the replacements’ bench, while the other change in the pack sees Northampton Saints’ Teimana Harrison come in at openside flanker for club colleague Tom Wood.
The other two changes come in the back three, where Bath’s Semesa Rokoduguni starts in place of Marland Yarde, and Alex Goode replaces Mike Brown at full-back.
"We've picked a side to beat Fiji,” Jones said on Friday morning. “Every Test match is an opportunity for us to keep improving and to increase the depth of the squad.
"We've made a few changes from last week and those players have a great chance to put their best foot forward and make the team better.
"England at Twickenham is the game Fiji will have targeted on their tour. They are one of the iconic rugby nations of the world and we respect them enormously.
"They bring flair and an unbridled enthusiasm to move the ball at pace, with running skills - if the game becomes unstructured they can be a very dangerous team. They'll come to Twickenham with no fear and hungry to cause an upset.”
Show all 30 1 /30England vs South Africa player ratings England vs South Africa player ratings <b>England:</b> 15. Mike Brown - 7 out of 10 Unlucky not to have bagged a try before Lawes touched down. Reliable with the boot but made one bad decision to run with the ball when sending it back to the Springboks 22 would have been more advised. Fed May for the opening try.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 14. Marland Yarde - 6 out of 10 Kept quiet and was somewhat starved of ball. Ford looked to bring him into the game by chipping ahead when he had space ahead of him.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 13. Elliot Daly - 8 out of 10 England looked to utilise his talents with the ball in hand, but he was also on the end of a few hefty hits early on. Coped well though, and punished the Boks with a 50m-plus penalty kick on the stroke of half-time. Combined a nice blend of creative passing and decisive running lines.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 12. Owen Farrell - 8 out of 10 Missed one penalty effort that, given his form with the boot, you’d expect him to land. Supported Youngs smartly to bag his try, and showed a toughness in running the ball that surprised the Boks’ backs. Assertive as ever in defence.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 11. Jonny May - 7 out of 10 There’s something about Jonny May and what is quickly becoming May’s corner at Twickenham. Displayed his speed to hold off Paige to score the opening try on his return to the international fold.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 10. George Ford - 7 out of 10 Two poor kicks early on were quickly forgotten when his beautifully delayed pass released Yarde and set-up the first try for May. Grew into the game and found his kicking boots, though used those outside him when the opportunity arose as the Boks’ defence fell apart.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 9. Ben Youngs - 9 out of 10 Unlocked the South African defence twice with two dummies that will feature in Pieter-Steph du Toit’s nightmares for some time. Both came from the base of the ruck, demonstrating his awareness to make the most of the limited space afforded to him.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 1. Mako Vunipola - 8 out of 10 Did the bulk of the carrying along with his brother the great effect and rarely went backwards. His scrummaging has come on over the last year, but while he held his own in the front-row it’s still an area of slight weakness for the Saracen. That said, there wasn’t much else to fault him on.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 2. Dylan Hartley - 7 out of 10 Reliable as ever at the lineout, though the return of Wood gave him plenty of options in the air. Not as prominent in the loose, and didn’t have too much to do defensively as South Africa lacked ideas beyond one-out rugby.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 3. Dan Cole - 7 out of 10 Penalised early on for coming in at the side, but made up for it with a turnover penalty of his own. A force in defence, and coped well with the Beast in the scrum.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 4. Joe Launchbury - 8 out of 10 Stepped into the shoes of the absent Maro Itoje, and flourished on his return to the fold. While Itoje does the prominent work, Launchbury did a lot of the hidden stuff that gave England the platform to attack. Strong work in the air at the lineout.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 5. Courtney Lawes - 7 out of 10 Led the side out on his 50th cap and was celebrating 36 minutes later. Alert enough to dive on the ball after Brown’s apparent knock-on that proved otherwise after a TMO review. Looked to take on a much smarter role than his usual ‘enforcer’ self.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 6. Chris Robshaw - 8 out of 10 Thudding hit on Paige won possession for his side in the first-half and set the tone for his own performance. Worked hard to rush out from the first marker role and cut-off any inside balls.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 7. Tom Wood - 7 out of 10 Will have gained the fury of Jones with two quick penalties in the opening six minutes, but settled down and proved a force in the lineout and in the loose as he worked well with Yarde on the right. Led the defence, as he once used to.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 8. Billy Vunipola - 8 out of 10 Disappointed the crowd when he turned down an early chance to run at the Boks by calling mark, but soon announced his arrival with a barnstorming run through the middle. Another burst saw off Etzebeth as he left the field with a rattled head. Not his finest performance, but it was still one of the standout showings.
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England vs South Africa player ratings <b>South Africa:</b> 15. Willie le Roux - 6 out of 10 Looked shaky in the first half as he kicked the ball straight into touch to put his side under pressure, and also saw very little of the ball on the front foot. Finished his late try well, but that was about it.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 14. Ruan Combrinck - 5 out of 10 One beautiful touchline conversion apart, this wasn’t a great showing from the wing. Ineffective with the ball, and managed to fire a penalty touch-finder dead to cost South Africa an attacking platform.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 13. Francois Venter - 6 out of 10 Lovely flick out the back of the hand set-up replacement Johan Goosen for the Springboks’ first try, via the hands of Whiteley, but was somewhat exposed in defence.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 12. Damian de Allende - 6 out of 10 Was still trying to create any sort of attack from South African ball right at the death, but found a white wall in front of him. Defensively suspect as Farrell and Daly enjoyed success opposite him, though he was softened up somewhat by Billy Vunipola.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 11. JP Pietersen - 5 out of 10 Knock-on from the high ball led to the second try for England and unfortunately goes down as his fault. Had a chance to impose on Yarde with the high ball but couldn’t capitalise. Largely anonymous otherwise.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 10. Patrick Lambie - 5 out of 10 Two early penalties were followed by a miss from distance, but while he didn’t put many feet wrong, he struggled to control his back line. Hauled off short of the hour mark after lacking creativity.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 9. Rudy Paige - 5 out of 10 Rattled by Robshaw and exposed by May, he didn’t enjoy a great first start at Twickenham. Didn’t marshal his forwards around the park that left South Africa on the back foot.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 1. Tendai Mtwarira - 6 out of 10 Great early run caught England out on the fringe and gained 30m for his side. Apart from that, he offered little, and Cole soon got the better of him in the front-row in a hard-fought battle.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 2. Adriaan Strauss - 6 out of 10 Doesn’t strike the opposition as a fearsome leader. Missed a chance to break when he attempted to fly-hack the ball on and missed. Replaced by Bongi Mbonambi with 10 minutes remaining.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 3. Vincent Koch - 5 out of 10 Guilty of dropping the ball at least twice and was exposed by Youngs as the scrum-half surged into the 22 in the first half.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 4. Eben Etzebeth - 5 out of 10 Had little time to impose himself on the game as he was bowled over by Billy Vunipola, suffering a head injury in the first half and leaving the field as a result. His departure sparked the rapid decline of the Springboks.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 5. Lood de Jager - 5 out of 10 Has trimmed himself down since his last tour on these shores at the World Cup, but for a man of his side he is not imposing on the opposition as he should be. Shirked the responsibility of carrying as others took on his work load.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 6. Willem Alberts - 7 out of 10 South Africa’s most impressive player as he did the hard yards and was also an unavoidable target in defence. A shame that those around him didn’t match his levels.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit - 4 out of 10 Exposed twice by Youngs that will have any rugby player embarrassed. Looked out of his depth at blindside, and should probably return to the second row for his next appearance.
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England vs South Africa player ratings 8. Warren Whiteley - 6 out of 10 Sucked in Brown to release Goosen and set-up South Africa’s first try, but by then it was too late. Had front-foot ball at the scrum, although he could have done more with it.
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England head into their second of four Autumn internationals off the back of an 11-match unbeaten streak that stretches back to Jones’s first match in charge of the national team. They cruised their way past South Africa last weekend in a 37-21 victory, but while Jones was pleased with the four-try win, he still admitted there are areas to improve.
The home side conceded six penalties in the opening 20 minutes against the Springboks and captain Dylan Hartley admitted that they could be punished for that ill-discipline on another day in the form of points or a yellow card, and Jones will have a firm eye on the performance this weekend as well as the result.
Elliot Daly impressed on his first start for England but shifts to the wing against Fiji (Getty) "While we were satisfied with last week's result against South Africa, there was plenty to improve on,” he added.
"We want a much more complete performance on Saturday - we want to be in total control of the game and tidy-up the things we didn't do well enough last weekend."
Teams England: Goode; Rokoduguni, Joseph, Farrell, Daly; Ford, Youngs; Vunipola, Hartley, Cole; Launchbury, Lawes; Robshaw, Harrison, Vunipola.
Replacements: George, Marler, Sinckler, Ewels, Hughes, Care, Te’o, Slade.
Fiji: Metui Talebula; Benito Masilevu, Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Albert Vulivuli, Nemani Nadolo; Josh Matavesi, Seru Vularika; Campese Ma'afu, Sunia Koto, Manasa Saulo; Api Ratuniyawara, Leone Nakarawa; Dominiko Waqaniburotu, Peceli Yato, Akapusi Qera.
Replacements: Tuapati Talemaitoga, Peni Ravai, Leeroy Atalifo, Nemia Soqeta, Naulia Dawai, Eremasi Radrodro, Nikola Matawalu, Kini Murimurivalu
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