England have reunited playmakers George Ford and Owen Farrell in their backline for Saturday’s final World Cup group match against Samoa in Lille.
They start together for the first time since the 2021 Six Nations as Steve Borthwick revives the creative axis that has excelled for England in the past as he assesses his options for the quarter-final.
Ford starts at fly-half having produced man-of-the-match displays against Argentina and Japan while Farrell shifts to inside centre to accommodate his rival for the 10 jersey.
Farrell needs two more points to become England’s highest scorer of all time, eclipsing the mark of 1,179 set by Jonny Wilkinson.
Manu Tuilagi is picked at 13 to provide a ball-carrying threat in what will be a special occasion for the Sale powerhouse, who faces the nation of his birth for the first time.
Joe Marchant is squeezed out of the midfield but finds a home on to the right wing, meaning there is no place for Henry Arundell despite his five-try haul against Chile.
Arundell drops out of the 23 altogether, as does Elliot Daly with Jonny May winning the race to start on the other wing as part of a back three that sees Freddie Steward replace Marcus Smith.
The urge to give Smith another run at full-back has been resisted but the rapid Harlequins ringmaster is poised to complete another cameo off the bench at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
England are at full strength against Samoa and evidence of Ben Earl’s rise as a force on the Test stage is seen in his selection at number eight ahead of Billy Vunipola, who features on the bench.
Tom Curry is restored at openside after playing just 179 seconds against Argentina, at which point he was sent off for a dangerous tackle that resulted in a two-match ban which he completed against Chile.
A surprise pick in the front row sees Dan Cole preferred ahead of Kyle Sinckler at tighthead prop.
England qualified for the quarter-finals as Pool D winners on September 28 when Japan beat Samoa, allowing them to advance to a knockout appointment with likely opponents Fiji despite having a match to spare.
Borthwick said: “Whilst we are of course pleased with our results and qualification into the pool stages, we want to continue our improvement with a positive performance against a difficult and in-form Samoa team.
“Samoa are renowned for their physicality and this last game in the pool stages will be an excellent test for us as we continue in our World Cup journey.”
'The time is right to move on' – England's Moeen retires from internationals
England's Moeen Ali has confirmed his international retirement.
Moeen played across all formats for England over the past decade, and was part of the squads that won the 50-over World Cup in 2019 and T20 World Cup two years ago.
Having come out of Test retirement to feature for England against Australia in 2023, Mooen has now confirmed his retirement from international cricket altogether.
"I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won't," Moeen said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
"Even retiring, I don't feel it's because I'm not good enough – I still feel I can play.
"But I get how things are, and the team needs to evolve into another cycle. It's about being real to myself.
"I've played a lot of cricket for England. It's time for the next generation.
"It felt [like] the time was right to move on. I've done my part."
He bows out having played 68 Tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20Is.
Moeen made five Test centuries, taking 204 wickets in the longest format.
The off-spinner made three tons and took 111 wickets in ODIs, while clinching 51 wickets in T20Is.
Australia 'fell off a cliff' in biggest-ever Test defeat
Australia suffered their biggest-ever Test defeat on Saturday, as Argentina came from behind to win 67-27 in the Rugby Championship.
And Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said his team simply "fell off a cliff" after taking a 17-point lead.
Having snapped an eight-game winless run in the Rugby Championship with their last-gasp victory over Argentina last week, Australia were looking to keep the momentum going.
And they looked well set to do just that as tries from Carlo Tizzano and Andrew Kellaway propelled them into a 20-3 lead.
But Mateo Carreras and Julian Montoya, who was playing for Argentina for the 100th time, dragged Argentina back into it and paved the way for Australia's capitulation after the break.
Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo, Juan Cruz Mallia and Lucio Cinti all crossed for the Pumas in the second half, with Santiago Carreras' conversion condemning Australia to their record defeat.
"To lead a Test match 20-3 and get run down in the manner which we did is really disappointing," said Schmidt.
"We cannot let a game get away from us like it did and fall off a cliff.
"We lost connection in our defensive line. We were forever chasing them.
"We didn't put enough pressure on at the breakdown, so they were operating off a lightning-quick ball, and it's just too difficult to keep chasing a team on a hot day when they’ve got the ball and going forward."
Australia's previous record Test defeat had come against South Africa in 1997.
Matters do not get any easier for the Wallabies, who now face two matches against Schmidt's native New Zealand as they aim to avoid finishing bottom of the pile.
Second-place Argentina, meanwhile, will tussle it out with Rugby Championship leaders South Africa.
Rice "was never going to celebrate" against Republic of Ireland
Declan Rice "was never going to celebrate" after scoring against the Republic of Ireland in England's 2-0 Nations League victory.
The midfielder was met by a hostile crowd in Dublin having previously represented Ireland before changing allegiance to England.
But Rice had the last laugh, lashing home in the 11th minute before teeing up Jack Grealish, who previously represented Ireland at youth level, to seal a comfortable win for Lee Carsley's side.
It marked his fourth goal for the Three Lions but Rice did not feel the need for celebrations.
"Obviously, it was an amazing feeling to score, but I was never going to celebrate. I have Irish family, my nan and grandad, who are not here anymore and I think it would have been disrespectful to them if I celebrated," he told beIN Sports.
"It happened six, seven years ago so it’s such a long time ago now. I get on really well with a lot of the Irish boys so there’s nothing hard done by, by me. Obviously, the fans feel a certain way, and that’s absolutely fine.
"I just wanted to focus and get my head back in the game to score more goals."
The last time Rice had played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin was six years and 97 days prior to Saturday's match. On that occasion, he represented Ireland against the USA in June 2018.
Now in the white shirt of England, Rice helped interim manager Carsley to a debut win in Dublin after the resignation of Gareth Southgate following Euro 2024.
"It's been refreshing this week to play with [Carsley] and play with his staff. We're playing in a different way to what we were before," reflected Rice.
"It's going to take a bit of time for us to be amazing at what we do, but a lot of the players that play at [Manchester] City, Liverpool, Arsenal, we play a similar way, so it's easy to adapt.
"It was really good, it was really refreshing. I'm feeling much fitter in myself which is a real positive. It was a really good result in the end."
While Rice now represents a relative stalwart of the England squad with 59 caps, former England Under-21s manager Carsley, himself an ex-Ireland international, handed debuts to Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes, while he also played Anthony Gordon and Levi Colwill from the start.
"We've obviously been really close now in back-to-back Euros, at a World Cup, so the next thing for England is to win," said Rice.
"We need to strive and keep building towards that. It’s a different group this time, more younger players, but I'm sure we’ll be better for it. Going forward, it's going to be really positive, and it's going to be a fresh start."
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