England playmakers George Ford and Owen Farrell aiming to seal series triumph against Australia
Eddie Jones will reunite the grand slam-winning 10-12 axis of Ford and Owen Farrell as the tourists target the victory that will complete an historic series in the southern hemisphere.
Ford was brought on in the 29th minute of the 39-28 victory in Brisbane with Huddersfield-born centre Luther Burrell making way.
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Hide AdThe reshuffle saw Farrell, the starting fly-half, replace Burrell at inside centre and the change in personnel provided the catalyst for England’s fightback.
A bold, early substitution by Jones was rewarded with arguably Ford’s best performance in 24 caps after the 23-year-old’s vision set-up tries for wings Marland Yarde and Jack Nowell.
It is hoped the twin playmakers will offer England the direction they need if they are to seize an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
“Australia will be desperate because they will be disappointed with the first result,” said Ford.
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Hide Ad“They played some good stuff in the first 20 minutes of that first Test and will aim to do that for the full 80.
“They’ll bring physicality as always and will want to get one back on us, but we’re desperate as well.”
England’s fourth win on Australian soil is among the greatest results in Red Rose history, but Ford insists they must not dwell on events at Suncorp Stadium if they are to close out the series.
“We’re very happy with the win. It was great to get the series off to a win, but the attention quickly turned to this week.
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Hide Ad“We have another huge challenge and we know we must improve our performance if we want to get a good result. The lads are pretty focused.
“We have to make sure we don’t let the standards in training slip.”
Sean McMahon replaces David Pocock as one of four changes made by Australia.
Pocock has been ruled out for the remainder of the series with a fractured eye socket sustained in Brisbane and head coach Michael Cheika has opted for McMahon to fill the void at No 8.
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Hide AdAustralia have strengthened their front row by picking props Sekope Kepu and James Slipper ahead of Scott Sio and Greg Holmes. Sio is dropped from the 23 following a poor performance in Brisbane.
Lock Rob Simmons has failed to overcome a back injury so Sam Carter will join Rory Arnold in the second row.