Wasps lock Launchbury comes in for the injured Courtney Lawes (knee), and Gloucester No 8 Morgan – who scored two tries against the Wallabies in England’s victory at Twickenham last November – replaces Billy Vunipola, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.
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Owen Farrell keeps his place at fly-half, and half-back partner Ben Youngs has been passed fit to start at scrum-half after shaking off a foot injury.
Nick Easter, Vunipola’s squad replacement, goes straight on to the bench so James Haskell is axed from the 23 altogether, while George Kruis provides second row cover.
This is a third World Cup for Easter, a member of the England side that lost the 2007 final to South Africa in Paris.
Burgess could have been talking about last Saturday’s loss to Wales, which England blew at the end after failing to cash in on their dominance earlier in the game. “The group is really committed to making all Australian’s truly proud of how we represent them at this Rugby World Cup and Saturday night will be another opportunity for us to do that”. So there’s no point hiding where the accountability lies.
“There’s no denying it, the stakes are huge for us, but the boys will be ready”. “I believe that this selection, the same starting team that ran out verus Fiji, has been really clear on where we must improve and the level we must be at to compete with England and we know that it’s going to be a very tough challenge”.
“If you get concerned about the external effects, you are not in a good place and you lose focus of what your job is”. To have him back in the team is a real positive.
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“We don’t get a chance to speak to referees before World Cup games but we’re in constant dialogue with (referees manager) Joel Jutge”, said Lancaster.
