England vs South Africa: Freddie Steward and Jack van Poortvliet return as Steve Borthwick makes four changes | Rugby Union News

Freddie Steward and Jack van Poortvliet will return for England against South Africa on Saturday after Steve Borthwick made four changes to his starting XV to face the world champions.

Head coach Borthwick had gone with the same line-up for England’s narrow defeats to New Zealand and Australia over the previous two weekends, but has made significant alterations as he seeks to end a four-match winless streak.

Steward comes in at full-back in place of George Furbank, while Van Poortvliet replaces Ben Spencer at scrum-half in two changes that appear to be tactical. Neither of the Leicester duo had been included in the matchday 23 for either of the previous two fixtures.

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Winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and forward Tom Curry both miss out after suffering head injuries against Australia. Ollie Sleightholme is promoted from the bench to a starting role on the wing after scoring two tries against the Wallabies, while Sam Underhill comes into the back-row.

The only change to the England bench from last weekend is the addition of Sale Sharks winger Tom Roebuck, who is in line to make his second international appearance after featuring in Japan in June.

That means Marcus Smith continues at fly-half at Allianz Stadium with George Ford providing back-up from the bench.

“We’re excited to challenge ourselves against the world’s top-ranked team and back-to-back Rugby World Cup champions,” Borthwick said.

“Test matches against South Africa are always thrilling contests, and I’m sure Saturday will be no exception.”

England team to face South Africa: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (captain), 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Martin, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck.

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