Ford returns at 10 for England against All Blacks
Ford was left out of the matchday squad for the win over Fiji on Saturday
- Published
Quilter Nations Series: England v New Zealand
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday, 15 November Kick-off: 15:10 GMT
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website and app
George Ford returns at fly-half and Freddie Steward at full-back for England's much-anticipated showdown with New Zealand on Saturday at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.
Tom Roebuck has recovered from an ankle problem and replaces the injured Tommy Freeman on the right wing.
In the forwards, Sam Underhill starts on the open-side flank with Guy Pepper on the blind-side and Ben Earl at number eight.
With Ollie Chessum out, Alex Coles partners captain Maro Itoje in the second row, while Fin Baxter, Jamie George and Joe Heyes are the starting front row.
Head coach Steve Borthwick has again opted for a 6-2 split on the bench, with Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry and Henry Pollock among the reinforcements.
Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge and Will Stuart - all British and Irish Lions this summer - are also part of a formidable bench.
Marcus Smith is preferred to Fin Smith as the outside back replacement.
The versatile Elliot Daly, who has trained with the squad but not played since breaking his arm playing for the Lions in July, is also left out of the matchday 23.
Roebuck's return means fellow wing Henry Arundell, who showed his pace with a try in his first England match in more than two years against Fiji last weekend, is also out.
England line-up to face New Zealand
England: Steward; Roebuck, Lawrence, Dingwall, Feyi-Waboso; Ford, Mitchell; Baxter, George, Heyes, Itoje, Coles, Pepper, Underhill, Earl
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge, Stuart, Cunningham-South, T Curry, Pollock, Spencer, M Smith
Ford seeks to bury memories of 2024 defeat
Ford hit a post with a 78th-minute penalty before missing a last-gasp drop-goal shot in last year's defeat
England have won only one of their past 11 meetings with the All Blacks - a 19-7 victory in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals - but have rarely been far off their opponents in that time.
In addition to a 25-25 draw at Twickenham, their average losing margin in the remaining nine games over that period is less than six points.
Ford was in the midst of the fine margins in last year's 24-22 reverse, missing a drop-goal attempt on the game's final play.
His chances in an England shirt were restricted to just one cameo off the bench in the following Six Nations campaign, as Fin Smith edged in front of him in the pecking order.
But the 32-year-old Ford steered an under-strength side to a clean sweep of their tour of the Americas in the summer, including back-to-back victories over Argentina, and his bravery at the gain-line and shrewd decision-making was trusted from the start in the 25-7 win over Australia a fortnight ago.
Marcus Smith's ability to cover full-back as well as fly-half makes him a useful replacement, with the absence of namesake Fin - the first-choice 10 for the majority of the Six Nations earlier this year - showing how competitive it is to be England's conductor.
England press the bench to push to victory
Pollock and Cowan-Dickie, as against Australia, are part of a strong England bench
England come into the contest on the back of nine successive wins, their longest streak of success since a record-equalling 18-Test run was overseen by Eddie Jones in the wake of the 2015 World Cup.
A clutch of fringe players have emerged as Test regulars, giving coach Steve Borthwick the faith to keep more experienced options on the bench for the business end of matches.
Heyes and Baxter, with 16 caps each, start as props in a continuation of the pairing that impressed against a strong Argentine scrum in the summer, with Genge and Stuart in reserve.
Tom Curry, who has come back from a string of injuries to continue delivering big-match performances for England and Lions, is also poised among a high-quality set of replacements dubbed 'the Pom Squad'.
Fellow finisher Henry Pollock, along with Ben Earl, will be part of a contingency plan to cover the backline if injuries bite deep.
England have managed to accelerate away from both Australia and Fiji in the final 20 minutes of matches so far this autumn, but New Zealand, after negotiating a 25-17 scare against Scotland at Murrayfield last time out, will test that tactic more thoroughly.