Danny Cipriani to make first England start since 2008 in third Test against South Africa
Written by News on 22/06/2018
Danny Cipriani will make his first start for England in a decade after being named in the XV to face South Africa in Saturday’s third and final Test, live on Sky Sports Action.
The 30-year-old fly-half will wear the No 10 shirt when England take to the field at Newlands looking to prevent a sixth consecutive Test defeat.
Cipriani, whose last start came back in November 2008, replaces George Ford, who drops out of the matchday squad.
“We are expecting a wet and windy old day at Newlands and have elected to play Danny Cipriani ahead of George Ford to give us a left-foot kicking option,” said England coach Eddie Jones.
There are three other changes to the starting XV with Joe Marler named in the front row in place of Mako Vunipola, who has returned home to attend the birth of his son.
Chris Robshaw replaces Brad Shields at blindside flanker as Shields has been ruled out due to illness, while Nathan Hughes comes in to start in place of Billy Vunipola at No 8 following the latter’s broken forearm during the second Test.
England have lost both matches against the Springboks so far – with the games following a similar pattern as the tourists made flying starts before fading – but Jones is backing them to last the distance this time as they seek to avoid a series whitewash in Cape Town.
“We will need to jump out of the blocks quickly again and make sure we maintain that pressure and make good decisions,” he said.
“We’ve had a really upbeat training week. We are up for the battle and are going to rip in on Saturday. We want another committed performance where it will be crucial to maintain our composure when the heat is on.
“I’ve been really impressed with the fortitude of the squad under Owen Farrell, who is a young captain, and with a number of young players who have really stuck to the task.”
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jonny May, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Mike Brown, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Chris Robshaw, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Jonny Hill, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Sam Simmonds, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Denny Solomona.
Watch the third and final Test between South Africa and England on Saturday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Main Event at 3pm.
(c) Sky News 2018: Danny Cipriani to make first England start since 2008 in third Test against South Africa
