England v Japan live updates: Nations Championship test

Detailed summary

England host Japan at Twickenham in a Nations Championship test. Henry Pollock will make his first start for England since the Six Nations rout by Ireland in February after being…

Henry Pollock will make his first start for England since the Six Nations rout by Ireland in February after being named at No 8 for Saturday’s clash against Japan at Twickenham, with George Ford back at fly-half.

Pollock is one of 10 personnel changes made to the starting side by coach Steve Borthwick following last Sunday’s 45-22 win over Australia at Twickenham.

Pollock, primarily a back-row, scored two tries on the wing against the Wallabies, taking his tally to eight in 14 Tests, after replacing the injured Immanuel Feyi-Waboso at half-time.

This weekend’s Nations Championship international will be just the second time Pollock has started for England.

Pollock comes in for Ollie Chessum, who suffered a shoulder injury against Australia, in a revamped back row where Ben Earl shifts to openside flanker and lock Alex Coles is switched to blindside flanker.

There is a whole new front row in Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Asher Opoku-Fordjour, with George Martin replacing Coles to form a second row duo with England captain Maro Itoje.

The 108-times capped Ford makes his first international appearance since February in place of Fin Smith.

Northampton stand-off Smith steered England to a convincing win over the Wallabies in their November opener but has failed to make the matchday 23, with England still to play New Zealand before finals weekend at Twickenham.

Behind the scrum, Freddie Steward returns at full-back instead of George Furbank, who is nursing a groin strain, while Will Joseph is on the wing for Feyi-Waboso, out for the rest of the November programme with ankle damage.

Opening of the article, excerpted from NZ Herald. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.