England name Owen Farrell at fly-half for Twickenham Test against New Zealand

Owen Farrell: Will start at fly-half against the All Blacks

Owen Farrell: Will start at fly-half against the All Blacks

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Owen Farrell has been named at fly-half for England's final autumn Test against New Zealand on Saturday.

The Saracens star, who has been nominated for the IRB Player of the Year award, replaces the injured Toby Flood in the only change to starting side that lost to South Africa.

Flood's promotion sees the uncapped Freddie Burns named among the replacements, the 22-year-old star rewarded for some superb showings for Gloucester this season.

The only other change sees Courtney Lawes make his return from injury to take Mouritz Botha's place on the bench for the Twickenham clash.

Stuart Lancaster's side have scored just one try in the back-to-back defeats to Australia and South Africa, but the head coach is confident they can deliver a big performance against an All Blacks side that are on a 20-game unbeaten streak.

"We asked for a big response from the players after Australia and we got one last Saturday against South Africa, although ultimately we were denied," said Lancaster.

"That frustration has been channelled this week and the whole squad has reacted with a determination to get a victory against the top team in the world.

"We are delighted that Courtney has got an opportunity. He has worked hard to get back in contention and what better game for him to make an impact.

"The same with Freddie Burns, who has had a great Premiership season so far, and we are looking forward to seeing him contribute should he get his chance."

England: Goode, Ashton, Tuilagi, Barritt, Brown, Farrell, Youngs; Corbisiero, Youngs, Cole, Launchbury, Parling, Wood, Robshaw (captain), Morgan.

Replacements: Paice, Wilson, Vunipola, Lawes, Haskell, Care, Burns, Joseph.


Source : [dot]skysports[dot]com