England v Fiji: Courtney Lawes to captain England on 100th Test appearance

Courtney Lawes will lead out England against Fiji on Saturday to win his 100th Test cap

Courtney Lawes will captain England on his 100th cap in Saturday's match with Fiji at Twickenham, while hooker Theo Dan makes his first start.

Lawes, 34, lines up in the back row alongside Jack Willis and Ben Earl, who starts at number eight in the absence of the banned Billy Vunipola.

With Owen Farrell also suspended, George Ford is at fly-half.

Jonny May starts on the wing despite not being in the World Cup squad and Alex Mitchell is named at scrum-half.

Northampton's Mitchell will make his first appearance of the summer after being called up to the squad following the withdrawal of Jack van Poortvliet, who will miss the World Cup after injuring an ankle.

England head coach Steve Borthwick said: "We couldn't be prouder of Courtney on achieving his incredible milestone after 14 years of excellent performances for his country.

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"It has been a privilege to watch his journey and witness him develop into a truly outstanding rugby player.

"Not only is Courtney an exceptional talent and an excellent professional, he is also a brilliant role model for young players every time he steps onto the field."

Borthwick's side will be without Vunipola for England's opening pool game with Argentina at the World Cup, while Farrell misses the games against the Pumas and Japan.

Vunipola has been banned for three games for a high challenge on Ireland's Andrew Porter, starting with Saturday's game with Fiji, but it can be reduced to two if he completes the World Rugby coaching programme on tackling.

Meanwhile, World Rugby successfully appealed against the decision to overturn Farrell's red card in the win over Wales on 12 August and have issued the fly-half with a four-game ban.

He missed last week's defeat in Ireland and will not play against Fiji which means he can return for England's third pool game against Chile on 23 September.

It took 10 days from the incident to the final decision, after two hearings, and Borthwick says England will discuss their thoughts on the length of that process after the World Cup.

"Owen is one of the most resilient people I've ever met," Borthwick told BBC Sport.

"We respect the process. I think at some point in the future we'll be clear on our thoughts and the experience and the way it happened and lasted such a long period.

"We will be very clear about that but now is not the right time."

Borthwick's side have scored just two tries in their three warm-up matches so far but he says his players will convert their chances against Fiji.

He added: "Fiji have proven themselves to be a strong opposition and we look forward to what we expect to be an exciting and challenging game.

"Rest assured that we will be looking to convert the opportunities we have recently been creating into points on the scoreboard.

"As this is our last Test before heading to France, I want to thank our fans for all the support you continue to give us, and it means a lot to us that you will be behind us all the way on our World Cup journey."

England team to face Fiji: Steward; Malins, Lawrence, Tuilagi, May; Ford, Mitchell; Genge, Dan, Cole, Itoje, Chessum, Lawes (c), Willis, Earl.

Replacements: Walker, Marler, Stuart, Ribbans, Ludlam, Care, Smith, Marchant.