Eddie Jones names England side to face Australia as Dylan Hartley is dropped

England head coach Eddie Jones reacts to win over Japan at Twickenham

England co-captain Dylan Hartley will start on the bench against Australia on Saturday with Jamie George wearing the hooker’s jersey, while Manu Tuilagi is set for his first appearance for two years after also being named among the replacements.

After his try-scoring debut in the 35-15 victory over Japan last week, Joe Cokanasiga retains his place on the wing with injuries ruling out Chris Ashton and Jack Nowell. Jonny May is on the other wing.

The back row comprises Sam Underhill, Brad Shields and number eight Mark Wilson, with replacement Nathan Hughes set for his first appearance in the November test series after returning from suspension.

Owen Farrell returns at flyhalf with Ben Te’o and Henry Slade outside him and George Ford on the bench.

“We’ve picked our best 23 for the Australia game,” said coach Eddie Jones, after making nine personnel and three positional changes to the side that beat Japan last Saturday.

“We know they have a unique style of attack so our ability to defend that is going to be important. We are continually working on our strengths which is our set piece and our defence and they are areas that are progressing nicely.” Reuters

Re-live the press conference as it happened:

[22 November 2018 09:44 · Jack de Menezes]

Good moning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of England's team announcement ahead of their final autumn international of the campaign against Australia.

Eddie Jones is expected to make a number of changes following the victory over Japan last weekend, with the likes of Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell set to return to the starting line-up.

But Jones has further injury problems on his hands to deal with, and there is also the rather large looming figure of Manu Tuilagi to consider as he nears a return to international rugby for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years.

Jones will name his side at 11:30am before holding a press conference at 12:30pm, but until then here's the latest on what we expect to see.

[22 November 2018 11:25 · Jack de Menezes]

We're just five minutes away from releasing the England team that will face Australia, and there's a some big news on its way...

[22 November 2018 11:30 · Jack de Menezes]

BREAKING: ENGLAND TEAM TO FACE AUSTRALIA

Elliot Daly; Joe Cokanasiga, Henry Slade, Ben Te’o, Jonny May; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Ben Moon, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler; Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes; Brad Shields, Sam Underhill, Mark Wilson.

Replacements: Dylan Hartley, Alec Hepburn, Harry Williams, Charlie Ewels, Nathan Hughes, Richard Wigglesworth, George Ford, Manu Tuilagi.

[22 November 2018 11:32 · Jack de Menezes]

Dylan Hartley is left out of the starting line-up for the first time by Eddie Jones when the head coach has selected his strongest side and had the co-captain available.

Jones will no doubt explain that it is a squad effort and that Hartley's role simply changes from starter to finisher, but it is a huge decision that could signal a changing of the guard at hooker just 10 months out from the Rugby World Cup.

[22 November 2018 11:34 · Jack de Menezes]

The rest of the starting XV is pretty much as expected as England's big guns return for the Wallabies test, but the name of Manu Tuilagi among the replacements cannot be overlooked.

The centre has not played for England since a late cameo appearance against Wales in the 2016 Six Nations, and after being named in the squad to face Sout Africa earlier this month only to have injury rule him out on the eve of the match, he will be desperate to get onto the field this weekend.

He will not be the only one...

[22 November 2018 11:37 · Jack de Menezes]

Here's the full story:

[22 November 2018 11:47 · Jack de Menezes]

While we wait for Jones to arrive, here's what he has to say in the team release:

“We’ve picked our best 23 for the Australia game. We know they have a unique style of attack so our ability to defend that is going to be important. We are continually working on our strengths which is our set piece and our defence and they are areas that are progressing nicely. 

“I’m really happy with the direction we’re going in terms of the way we play the game. We are developing a unique style of rugby, which is English and the players are proud to play that way.

“The second part is the leadership of the team through the co-captaincy of Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell has been outstanding. We have seen growth in the togetherness of the team and I think we’ve seen that in the spirit in which they’ve played.

“Australia, we know are a traditional rival and we enjoy the occasion of playing them at Twickenham. The spirit of the fans has been outstanding. I think the atmosphere during these Quilter Internationals has been the best atmosphere I’ve certainly experienced and we encourage the fans to be at their robust best at the weekend.”

[22 November 2018 12:21 · Jack de Menezes]

We're just 10 minutes away from Eddie Jones' arrival here at Pennyhill Park, and there's no doubt what the agenda will be about this afternoon.

Messrs Hartley and Tuilagi will be top of the order for the head coach to discuss, but having already spoken to a couple of players here at England's training base, there's a certain excitement among them about Tuilagi's potential return.

[22 November 2018 12:34 · Jack de Menezes]

Eddie Jones and Owen Farrell have arrived, here we go...

[22 November 2018 12:35 · Jack de Menezes]

We've got a little bit to go but we've had a really good week, some really good preparations. We came in on Monday and some good work, we're ready to go.