Follow live coverage as England take on Tonga in the first of three Autumn Internationals at Twickenham as Eddie Jones gears up his side for matches against Australia and South Africa to come. The two teams have only met on three occasions in the past, most recently at the 2019 Rugby World Cup when England dominated to win 35-3.
Fly-half and captain Owen Farrell’s positive Covid-19 test caused disruption in the build-up to the game. “We’ve got a good leadership group and a good group of players,” said England forwards coach Richard Cockerill. “Things get thrown at you and you have to deal with the adversity. We have a resilient group and this is a good test to make sure that whatever happens, we perform and do exactly what we want to do.” Northampton’s George Furbank will now start at 10 for the hosts with Courtney Lawes the new skipper.
Tonga have reinforced their team by calling up players from the Gallagher Premiership and Top 14. The Pacific Islanders were overrun 60-14 by Scotland at Murrayfield but as that match fell outside the international window, they were unable to pick some of their more established names. French clubs are most heavily represented in the pack where starts are given to Bordeaux prop Ben Tameifuna, Toulon flanker Lopeti Timani, Grenoble lock Tanginoa Halaifonua, Agen hooker Paula Ngauamo and Pau prop Sigfried Fisi’ihoi. Follow all the action and analysis from Twickenham:
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Owen Farrell: England captain tests positive for Covid ahead of Tonga match
England coach Eddie Jones faces decision at fly-half after Owen Farrell’s positive Covid-19 test
England vs Tonga latest updates
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England take on Tonga at Twickenham
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Kick-off at 3.15pm
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First of three autumn internationals for Eddie Jones’ side
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Captain Owen Farrell out after testing positive; George Furbank starts at 10
England vs Tonga Preview
14:03 , Harry Latham-Coyle
Eddie Jones faces decision at fly-half after Owen Farrell’s positive Covid-19 test
England vs Tonga – Team News
13:59 , Harry Latham-Coyle
The RFU have not yet confirmed, but that will presumably also mean Owen Farrell is out of next weekend’s clash with Australia.
England vs Tonga: Owen Farrell out
13:59 , Ben Burrows
The big news of the afternoon is in with confirmation Owen Farrell will miss the game after testing positive for Covid.
Northampton’s George Furbank will now start at fly half and Mark Atkinson is in line to make his England debut as he is named on the bench.
Courtney Lawes will captain the side.
Jones said: “As Owen is unavailable to us, we’ve made these changes to the team to face Tonga today.
“It’s a great chance for the team to see how we adapt to challenges and keep focused on preparing for a big game. We can’t wait to play in front of a full crowd at Twickenham.”
13:48 , Ben Burrows
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage as England are taking on Tonga in the first of three Autumn Internationals at Twickenham as Eddie Jones gears up his side for matches against Australia and South Africa to come.
The two teams have only met on three occasions in the past, most recently at the 2019 Rugby World Cup when England dominated to win 35-3.
Fly-half and captain Owen Farrell’s positive Covid-19 test caused disruption in the build-up to the game. “We’ve got a good leadership group and a good group of players,” said England forwards coach Richard Cockerill.
“Things get thrown at you and you have to deal with the adversity. We have a resilient group and this is a good test to make sure that whatever happens, we perform and do exactly what we want to do.”
Tonga have reinforced their team by calling up players from the Gallagher Premiership and Top 14.
The Pacific Islanders were overrun 60-14 by Scotland at Murrayfield but as that match fell outside the international window, they were unable to pick some of their more established names.
French clubs are most heavily represented in the pack where starts are given to Bordeaux prop Ben Tameifuna, Toulon flanker Lopeti Timani, Grenoble lock Tanginoa Halaifonua, Agen hooker Paula Ngauamo and Pau prop Sigfried Fisi’ihoi.
Follow all the latest from Twickenham throughout the afternoon.
