Alex Goode to start as England announce their squad – Rugby News Update
Stuart Lancaster, the head coach of England has announced his squad, which takes on South Africa for the third and final test at Port Elizabeth, this Saturday.
Lancaster has announced six changes to the squad that played the game last weekend, but his hand has been forced due to injuries to England captain Chris Robshaw and Ben Youngs.
Alex Goode, the 24-year-old Saracens fly-half and fullback, will start his first international game, having made his debut against the Springboks last weekend at Johannesburg, coming on as a substitute. Goode comes on the back of an excellent domestic season,
and plays at fullback.
"I am really pleased for Alex. He has worked hard in training and has been pushing Mike Brown and Ben Foden close so we are looking forward to him bringing his footballing skills to this Test," said Lancaster.
The other notable inclusion in the squad is of Danny Care, the 25-year-old scrum-half, who has had troubles off the field, with Lancaster trusting Care for England duty once again, having declared earlier that the player will only comeback into the reckoning
once he can be trusted.
Lancaster said, "Danny Care, likewise, has bided his time in a very competitive position, knuckled down and deserves his chance, as has James Haskell, who has played this season for the Highlanders at number seven."
James Haskell, the flanker will make his first start since the 2011 Rugby World Cup, while Alex Corbisiero will start his first game at prop, having missed the first game, and sitting out the second.
England will look to avoid a series defeat, and they have pride to play for, while the Springboks will want to win by a clean sweep.
England:
Starting: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 James Haskell, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c),
1 Alex Corbisiero,
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Mouritz Botha, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Owen Farrell, 22 Brad Barritt.
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