England name Ford, Pepper in Australia Test

England have named George Ford to start at fly-half, with Fin Smith on the bench and Marcus Smith omitted from the 23-man matchday squad. Tommy Freeman shifts from the wing to outside centre to partner Fraser Dingwall, while Immanuel Feyi‑Waboso, Tom Roebuck and Freddie Steward make up the back three. The forwards include starting props Fin Baxter and Joe Heyes, Guy Pepper at blindside flanker ahead of Tom Curry, and Ben Earl at number eight. The bench contains six British & Irish Lions, including hooker Luke Cowan‑Dickie poised for his 50th cap and front-rowers Ellis Genge and Will Stuart. Coach Steve Borthwick warned Australia’s longer preparation under Joe Schmidt will be a stern test, and England will use the four autumn internationals — which also include Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina — to consolidate their world ranking and World Cup seeding.