Steve Borthwick’s side face the Brave Blossoms in Nice on Sunday.
LEWIS LUDLAM HAS edged Billy Vunipola in the battle for England’s number eight jersey for Sunday’s World Cup clash with Japan.
Ben Earl switches from number eight to openside to accommodate the return of Ludlam, who played every minute of this year’s Six Nations and has been one of England’s most consistent performers of recent times. Steve Borthwick has retained the same backline that featured against Argentina with George Ford given another opportunity to argue his case for being viewed as first choice out-half.
“It was both pleasing and important that we were able to start our World Cup campaign with a good win against Argentina last Saturday,” Borthwick said. Japan coach Jamie Joseph has made four changes to his starting XV from last week’s win over Chile for the Pool D match.
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