Nowell and Moon start against Wales- both sides name teams
Winger Jack Nowell and prop Ben Moon have been named to start for England in Saturday's potentially decisive Six Nations clash in Wales, with Joe Cokanasiga and Brad Shields on the bench for the first time in the championship.
Nowell was dropped to the bench for the home win over France but with Chris Ashton out with a calf strain, he returns to start in the same back three as in the opening win in Dublin, with Jonny May on the left and Elliot Daly at fullback.
Moon, who has impressed coach Eddie Jones since making his debut in November, is in for Mako Vunipola, who has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament. Ellis Genge will provide a fiery option from the bench. Prop Harry Williams also comes in to the replacements in place of Dan Cole. After a year when Jones's selection appeared to lack much direction, albeit in the face of a long injury list, England are starting to look like a settled team, even in the absence of Vunipola and Maro Itoje.
"We want to be the number one team in the world, we know we're a while from there but we’re heading in the right direction," Jones told reporters on Thursday. "We’ve got players challenging each other for spots. There’s competition, but players select themselves.
"We've got a strong squad and for Saturday it was about getting the order right, the starters and the finishers."
England fans will hope that one of those "finishers", in the shape of mighty Bath wing Cokanasiga, gets a good run out.
"As we saw in the autumn, Joe is a player of great potential," Jones said. "I really like his attitude, how hard he works at his game now. He'll cause the Welsh defence some problems."
With both teams having won their first two games, the Cardiff match (1645 GMT) already looks key to the title, particularly if England win it with home games against Italy and Scotland to come.
England have won their last five Six Nations games against the Welsh, but memories of their 2015 World Cup defeat at Twickenham and 30-3 humbling in Cardiff in 2013 when they were seeking a grand slam will keep their feet very much on the ground.
"They are always very fit so you have to make sure you win the gain line and then find opportunities of where you are going to attack them," Jones said.
"It's a big week for them and a lot of expectation. That can either be some wind in their sails or it can be a ball in chain. We'll find out on Saturday."
A home win would take Wales to a national record 12 successive victories, but with a final-day match against Ireland to come, there is still much to do if they are to win the championship for the first time since 2013.
England team to play Wales:
15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 27 caps)
14 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 31 caps)
13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 19 caps)
12 Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 29 caps)
11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 42 caps)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 67 caps) (captain)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 82 caps)
1 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 34 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 19 caps)
4 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 70 caps)
5 George Kruis (Saracens, 29 caps)
6 Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 10 caps)
7 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 7 caps)
8 Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 38 caps)
Replacements (147 caps)
16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)
17 Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps)
18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 16 caps)
19 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 55 caps)
20 Brad Shields (Wasps, 5 caps)
21 Dan Robson (Wasps, 1 cap)
22 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 53 caps)
23 Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 2 caps)
Wales coach Warren Gatland on Thursday named the following team to play England in the Six Nations in Cardiff on Saturday:
15-Liam Williams, 14-George North, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Hadleigh Parkes, 11-Josh Adams, 10-Gareth Anscombe, 9-Gareth Davies, 8-Ross Moriarty, 7-Justin Tipuric, 6-Josh Navidi, 5-Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4-Cory Hill, 3-Tomas Francis, 2-Ken Owens, 1-Rob Evans
Replacements: 16-Elliot Dee, 17-Nicky Smith, 18-Dillon Lewis, 19-Adam Beard, 20-Aaron Wainwright, 21-Aled Davies, 22-Dan Biggar, 23-Owen Watkin.
Published: by Radio NewsHub