Former Pulborough and Horsham youngster Billy Twelvetrees will start England’s Six Nations clash against France on the bench.
The 24-year-old, who came through minis rugby at Pulborough before moving on to Horsham and eventually Leicester and Gloucester in the Premiership, made a huge impact in his first two England appearances, scoring against Scotland on his debut. But his place at centre has been taken by Manu Tuilagi for Saturday’s Twickenham encounter.
England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We thought long and hard about changing a winning team which did so well against Ireland. But we believe that Dylan, Courtney and Manu are ready for the opportunity and allow us to vary our play, while the bench will add impact and energy as the game unfolds in the second half.
“The players are really looking forward to getting back to Twickenham; the atmosphere in the stadium is fantastic and hopefully the crowd can get behind us in what is sure to be a great challenge against a motivated and physical French team.”
England
15. Alex Goode (Saracens, 8 caps)
14. Chris Ashton (Saracens, 31 caps)
13. Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 18 caps)
12. Brad Barritt (Saracens, 13 caps)
11. Mike Brown (Harlequins, 13 caps)
10. Owen Farrell (Saracens, 14 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 30 caps)
1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 7 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 44 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 37 caps)
4. Joe Launchbury (London Wasps, 6 caps)
5. Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps)
6. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 17 caps)
7. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt, 14 caps)
8. Tom Wood (Northampton Saints, 15 caps)
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