Halfbacks:
- 10. Owen Farrell (Saracens)
- 9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
Gatland wrote in his column for The Telegraph: “If the plan was to make a half dozen changes for Japan, then I would stick to the plan and do that by giving Farrell a start at 10, before then picking my best side for New Zealand and South Africa.
” If you go with the same selection as Argentina, then that team pretty much needs to play the whole autumn together to build for the two big games.
“With Owen at No 10, you look at that as a possibility if you want to play a different game. The hard thing for England is you are trying to find a place for Marcus and he is a raw talent, unbelievably skilful.
“ertain games you go back to Owen at No 10 and you have that solidity, experience, and he has done it brilliantly for Saracens controlling the game for a number of years and had great success at fly-half.”
Front-row:
- 1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
- 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
- 3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears)
DID YOU KNOW?
- Genge has developmental coordination disorder (dyspraxia)
- Sinckler has represented England at under-16, under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels, and has been a crucial member of the senior team since 2016