Willis to make England debut in Autumn Nations Cup opener against Georgia

Jack Willis will make his England debut in Saturday's Autumn Nations Cup clash with Georgia at Twickenham.

The Wasps man will line up at openside flanker, with Maro Itoje at blindside and Billy Vunipola keeping his spot at number eight.

Ollie Lawrence, who made his Test debut off the bench against Italy in England's final Six Nations match in Rome, will get his first start for his country alongside Henry Slade in midfield.

"We've had a really good week of training," said head coach Eddie Jones. "We know there are a lot of expectations on us and we've applied ourselves hard and put a lot of pressure on ourselves in the early part of this week.

"Georgia will be a tough opponent, so we have a team with some real power in midfield. We have a good mix of youth and experience across the squad and they are completely focused on putting in an excellent performance on Saturday.

"We're looking forward to being back at our home at Twickenham, we are humbled by the opportunity and want to give people a reason to smile during such a tough time for the country."

Building towards our return to HQ Who are you looking forward to seeing in action on Saturday? #QuilterInternationals #AutumnNationsCup pic.twitter.com/AgJZmMDN90

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 10, 2020

Owen Farrell captains the side from fly-half, while Ben Youngs, who became only the second England player to win 100 caps against Italy, is at scrum-half.

In the front row, Bath prop Will Stuart makes his first international start alongside Jamie George and Ellis Genge.

Elliot Daly returns at full-back after overcoming injury, while Max Malins could make his Test debut after being named among the replacements.

After the Georgia match, Six Nations champions England face Ireland at Twickenham on November 21 before taking on Wales in Llanelli a week later.

48% - @BristolBears' @max_malins7 had a tackle evasion rate of 48% in the recently concluded @premrugby campaign (27 defenders beaten, tackled 29 times), of the 204 players to make 50+ carries only @02msmith (63%) had a better rate. Slippery. https://t.co/evoZFlTfHj

— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) November 12, 2020

England: Elliot Daly, Jonathan Joseph, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Jonny May, Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart, Charlie Ewels, Joe Launchbury, Maro Itoje, Jack Willis, Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: Tom Dunn, Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Ben Earl, Tom Curry, Dan Robson, Max Malins, Joe Marchant.