Ben Youngs will bring down the curtain on his England career in Friday’s World Cup bronze final against Argentina at Stade de France.
The nation’s most-capped men’s player with 126 Test appearances makes his first start of the tournament but also his final Red Rose outing, having launched his international odyssey against Scotland 13 years ago.
Steve Borthwick has saluted a scrum-half master who has been first choice for most of his career until slipping down the pecking order at this World Cup due to the emergence of Alex Mitchell.
“Ben has been a tremendous player for English rugby for such a long time. He’s a brilliant player and a fantastic team man,” Borthwick said.
“He’s our record cap holder, a player who has seen a lot in four World Cups and who has played an important role within this squad helping the team progress, particularly Alex Mitchell.”
Tom Curry locks horns with Argentina despite receiving online abuse in response to the allegation that he was the victim of a racist slur against South Africa.
Curry claimed that hooker Bongi Mbonambi called him a “white c***” in Saturday’s 16-15 semi-final defeat at the Stade de France, prompting World Rugby to launch an investigation that is ongoing.
The Sale flanker continues in the back row despite being in the eye of the storm, however, and will win his 50th cap in a rematch of the pool victory over the Pumas.
Owen Farrell leads a team showing eight changes in personnel and two positional switches, one of them Curry’s move to blindside flanker to accommodate Sam Underhill’s first appearance of the World Cup in the number seven jersey.
Marcus Smith is restored at full-back after passing the HIA that forced him to sit out the South Africa showdown and the knock-on effect is that Freddie Steward moves to the right wing.
Henry Arundell returns for the first time since running in five tries against Chile in the third Pool D match, providing firepower on the left wing, while the centre partnership of Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant remains intact.
Head coach Borthwick fields an entirely new front row made up of Ellis Genge, Theo Dan and Will Stuart, with tighthead prop Dan Cole poised to make potentially his final England appearance off the bench.
Ollie Chessum returns in the second row, but there is no place in the 23 for George Martin, one of the heroes of the defeat by the Springboks.
“After the disappointment of last weekend’s game against South Africa, it is important that this Friday we once again play with the determination and dedication that so nearly earned the team the result we wanted,” Borthwick said.
“The bronze final gives us a great opportunity to finish the tournament on a positive note, continue to build for the future, and to give our supporters one last chance to get behind the squad out here in Paris.”
Carsley did not apply for full-time England job, wants 'no regrets'
Lee Carsley revealed he did not formally apply to become the next England manager and wants "no regrets" over his time as interim boss.
Gareth Southgate left his position as England manager following their Euro 2024 final defeat in July, with the Football Association (FA) turning to Carsley for the Nations League fixtures.
He has won two of his three games so far, following up back-to-back wins over the Republic of Ireland and Finland with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley on Thursday.
With the return trip against Finland in Helsinki next up for the Three Lions, Carsley admitted prior to the game that he did not apply for the job during the application process earlier this year.
"No, I didn't apply for it," he told talkSPORT. "Because hopefully… I have been doing the U21s, and I am really happy with my job.
"I am an employee of the FA, and I was asked to take the senior team, which is a privilege. It was the proudest moment of my career.
"I am in a really fortunate position in that I am on the inside and I can see how much potential this team's got. It is one of the best jobs in world football.
"There aren’t many jobs where you’ve got a chance of winning. I believe the coach that comes in has got a really good chance of winning, and we deserve the best one that's out there."
Carsley was aiming to become the first England manager to win his first three competitive matches in charge since Fabio Capello in 2008, before Greece claimed their first-ever win over the Three Lions.
The 50-year-old selected an experimental line-up against Greece, fielding five attacking players, but no recognised striker, leaving the side unbalanced,
Harry Kane missed that game with a knock but is expected to return for the trip to Helsinki, having scored twice when they met them in September.
There was widespread criticism of the team after the full-time whistle, but Carsley says he did not want to play it safe during his time as interim boss.
"I think the reaction [to the loss against Greece] is fair enough. You have to respect people's opinions. We didn't perform as well as we can on the night, and I would expect a reaction [against Finland]," Carsley said in his press conference.
"I think it's something that I'll look back on in maybe two or three months and, you know, be better for it.
"I wanted to give this job my best shot for the three camps that we spoke about. I didn't want to have any regrets.
"It's important we do try something different at times. I think I'll be a better coach for that."
Saka and Jones withdraw from England's Nations League squad
England have confirmed that Arsenal's Bukayo Saka and Liverpool's Curtis Jones have withdrawn from the squad ahead of their Nations League clash with Finland on Sunday.
Saka was replaced by Noni Madueke in the 51st minute during England's shock 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley on Thursday after picking up an injury in his right leg.
It only adds to Mikel Arteta's injury worries ahead of facing Bournemouth next Saturday after Martin Odegaard was injured on international duty for Norway last month.
Saka has enjoyed a fine start to the Premier League campaign, scoring two goals and laying on a further seven assists in the Gunners' opening seven games.
The England international has also created more chances (27) than any other player in the division, with his nine goal involvements a total only bettered by Chelsea's Cole Palmer (11) and Manchester City's Erling Haaland (10).
Lee Carsley will also be without uncapped Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones, who was added to the Three Lions squad earlier this week, but has since withdrawn due to a personal commitment.
Jones earned his first call-up in May as part of Gareth Southgate's provisional 33-man squad for Euro 2024, but did not make the final cut.
The 23-year-old was part of the Young Lions side that won the 2023 European Under-21 Championship under Carsley, scoring the only goal in their 1-0 win over Spain in the final.
Brook has everything to become England's 'best ever', says Anderson
Harry Brook has all the attributes needed to become England's best ever batter after his sensational knock against Pakistan, so says James Anderson.
Brook became the first England batter in 34 years to score a triple-century when his side thrashed Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in their first Test of the three-match series.
In the same Test, Root scored 262, and in doing so he passed Alastair Cook's previous England best of 12,472 career runs, placing him fifth on the all-time list.
Brook's career-best knock of 317 took him to 1,875 runs in 19 Tests and 31 innings ahead of the second encounter in Multan that starts on Monday.
The 25-year-old has a chance to become the fastest Englishman to 2,000 Test runs, beating the 22 matches and 33 innings of Herbert Sutcliffe in 1928.
And Anderson, who is England's all-time leading wicket taker in Test matches, showered praise on Brook, likening him to Kevin Pietersen.
"He's on the way to being in the top three that I've played with," Anderson said on his Tailenders podcast.
"It's Root, Pietersen and him. He's definitely got all the attributes to overtake them.
"He's just got everything. Without trying to big him up too much because he's still really early in his Test career.
"I do think that he's got the perfect amount of each of those two and that's what will make him the best that we've ever had."
Pietersen scored 8,181 runs when his 104-Test career ended in 2014, 170 fewer than Brook has managed after 19 Tests as a comparison.
England's stunning 823-7 declared was their highest total in Test cricket since 1938 as they took a 1-0 series lead against Pakistan on Friday.
The 556 England conceded in Pakistan’s first innings was the highest total any team had overturned to then go on and earn an innings victory.
Brook and Root shared a partnership of 454, England’s highest of all time for any wicket and the fourth-highest by any Test pair.
"The thing that's really similar between Joe and Harry is that they love batting," said Anderson. "They literally couldn't care less what format it is. They just want to bat.
"They want to have fun doing it. As much as Harry's the younger player and will be learning loads from Rooty, I still think Rooty learns from him as well.
"Joe's one of those sorts of players that wants to keep developing and bettering himself, and he does watch other players and try to add bits to his game.
"I'm sure he's doing that with Harry."
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