England host Australia at Allianz Stadium Twickenham on Sunday afternoon in the opening match of the concluding autumn series of the 2026 Nations Championship. Head coach Steve Borthwick's side resume their international campaign aiming to build on summer victories over Fiji and Argentina following an opening defeat to South Africa.
The match kicks off at 3:10pm GMT and will be broadcast live and free-to-air on ITV1 in the United Kingdom, with live streaming available via the ITVX platform. England enter the fixture sitting third in the Northern Hemisphere table under mounting pressure ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup.
Regular skipper Maro Itoje returns to lead the team from the second row after being rested during the summer fixtures, taking back the captaincy from hooker Jamie George. Fin Smith has been cleared to start at fly-half following a recovery from a calf injury, joining scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet at half-back.
George Furbank starts at full-back after missing the summer campaign due to appendicitis, completing four changes to the starting XV alongside Fin Baxter at loosehead prop and Ben Curry at openside flanker. Alex Mitchell misses the entire autumn series with a hamstring injury, while Exeter back row Greg Fisilau is in line to earn his first cap from the replacements bench.
Australia arrive in south-west London positioned third in the Southern Hemisphere table under the new coaching direction of Les Kiss. The visitors welcome back Len Ikitau in the midfield alongside Isaac Henry following recovery from concussion, with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii shifting to the right wing.
Fraser McReight reaches his 50th international appearance at openside flanker, while number eight Harry Wilson assumes the captaincy. Declan Meredith continues at fly-half ahead of Ben Donaldson, with former Exeter star Kurtley Beale omitted from the matchday squad after his surprise selection.
England won 25-7 when the two sides met at Twickenham last autumn, avenging a narrow 42-37 defeat from the previous year. Steve Borthwick's team have claimed three victories from their last five encounters against the Wallabies since 2021.
Following Sunday's fixture, England will continue their autumn schedule with matches against Japan and New Zealand before concluding the inaugural Nations Championship with play-off finals later in November. Australia's itinerary includes subsequent away fixtures against Scotland and Wales.
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