England vs Fiji teams: Billy Vunipola and Elliot Daly fit to start while Nathan Hughes made to wait for full debut
All three comes through late fitness tests after head coach Eddie Jones delayed naming his squad by 24 hours
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Your support makes all the difference.Eddie Jones has finally named his England side for Saturday’s Test against Fiji after delaying his team announcement for 24 hours, with Billy Vunipola, Nathan Hughes and Elliot Daly all coming through fitness tests to feature in the matchday squad.
Both Vunipola and Daly will start the Twickenham encounter – meaning Hughes will not make his debut start against the country of his birth – with the latter moving from outside centre to the wing to accommodate a returning Jonathan Joseph in one of four personnel changes.
Hughes replaces Vunipola at No 8 as the Saracens back-row drops to the replacements’ bench, while the other change in the pack sees Northampton Saints’ Teimana Harrison come in at openside flanker for club colleague Tom Wood.
The other two changes come in the back three, where Bath’s Semesa Rokoduguni starts in place of Marland Yarde, and Alex Goode replaces Mike Brown at full-back.
"We've picked a side to beat Fiji,” Jones said on Friday morning. “Every Test match is an opportunity for us to keep improving and to increase the depth of the squad.
"We've made a few changes from last week and those players have a great chance to put their best foot forward and make the team better.
"England at Twickenham is the game Fiji will have targeted on their tour. They are one of the iconic rugby nations of the world and we respect them enormously.
"They bring flair and an unbridled enthusiasm to move the ball at pace, with running skills - if the game becomes unstructured they can be a very dangerous team. They'll come to Twickenham with no fear and hungry to cause an upset.”
England head into their second of four Autumn internationals off the back of an 11-match unbeaten streak that stretches back to Jones’s first match in charge of the national team. They cruised their way past South Africa last weekend in a 37-21 victory, but while Jones was pleased with the four-try win, he still admitted there are areas to improve.
The home side conceded six penalties in the opening 20 minutes against the Springboks and captain Dylan Hartley admitted that they could be punished for that ill-discipline on another day in the form of points or a yellow card, and Jones will have a firm eye on the performance this weekend as well as the result.
"While we were satisfied with last week's result against South Africa, there was plenty to improve on,” he added.
"We want a much more complete performance on Saturday - we want to be in total control of the game and tidy-up the things we didn't do well enough last weekend."
Teams
England: Goode; Rokoduguni, Joseph, Farrell, Daly; Ford, Youngs; Vunipola, Hartley, Cole; Launchbury, Lawes; Robshaw, Harrison, Vunipola.
Replacements: George, Marler, Sinckler, Ewels, Hughes, Care, Te’o, Slade.
Fiji: Metui Talebula; Benito Masilevu, Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Albert Vulivuli, Nemani Nadolo; Josh Matavesi, Seru Vularika; Campese Ma'afu, Sunia Koto, Manasa Saulo; Api Ratuniyawara, Leone Nakarawa; Dominiko Waqaniburotu, Peceli Yato, Akapusi Qera.
Replacements: Tuapati Talemaitoga, Peni Ravai, Leeroy Atalifo, Nemia Soqeta, Naulia Dawai, Eremasi Radrodro, Nikola Matawalu, Kini Murimurivalu
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