Pollock named at No.8 with Ojomoh and Joseph in England XV to face Japan

Henry Pollock, Max Ojomoh and Will Joseph have been named in England’s starting XV for their Nations Championship match against Japan on Saturday 14 November, with Pollock selected at number eight for what will be only his second Test start.

Pollock, 21, has scored eight tries in 14 Tests but has largely been used from the bench; his sole previous start came in a 42-21 home defeat by Ireland in February. Will Joseph returns to the side after making a solitary England appearance under Eddie Jones in 2022, while 26-year-old Max Ojomoh is restored to the midfield after a recent England A outing.

George Ford is named at fly-half with Fin Smith omitted from the matchday squad and Marcus Smith moved to the bench. Cadan Murley is included in the back three with Tommy Freeman left out, and England field an all-new starting front row of Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Asher Opoku-Fordjour.

Only Henry Slade, Jack van Poortvliet and captain Maro Itoje have retained their starting positions from last weekend’s win, reflecting enforced absences elsewhere in the squad. Northampton scrum-half Archie McParland is poised to make his debut off the bench, with Greg Fisilau, Arthur Clark and Emmanuel Iyogun — each with one cap — named among the replacements.

Head coach Steve Borthwick has adjusted the back row by moving Alex Coles to blind-side flanker in place of the injured Ollie Chessum, pairing Coles and Pollock with Ben Earl and Tom Curry having featured together in the Ireland defeat. England were criticised for their breakdown performance in that February match, and Pollock faces the task of proving his effectiveness in tight play as well as in open spaces.

Ojomoh was not initially included in England’s 36-strong squad for this month but earned promotion into the senior starting line-up after a “stellar” performance in England A’s win over an Argentina XV last Friday, coming into the side ahead of Fraser Dingwall with Seb Atkinson ruled out with a hip injury. The Bath centre’s contract situation and links to the Top 14 have been reported in the French press.

Joseph, who has alternated between wing and midfield for Gloucester this season, was taken on England’s 2022 tour of Australia by Eddie Jones and made his international debut as a substitute in the second Test. Only Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Louis Rees Zammit have beaten more defenders in the Premiership this season than Joseph. Reflecting on his return to camp, Joseph said: "Being back here is quite strange, it feels a little deja-vu," and he recounted the hearing loss in his left ear caused by an auto-immune reaction: "I was in a training session, the whistle went and my ear felt a bit funny," "Then we had a swimming session and when I got out the pool I couldn't hear out of my left ear. "My understanding is that my body over-reacted to something that was going on in my ear and shut down the nerves that allow me to hear. It was scary. It was tough. "When you have only got one ear [that works] your surroundings are all off. I feel like I have adapted now and got used to playing with one ear, but at the start I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to do it."

England have won all six previous Tests against Japan, most recently beating them 52-17 in Tokyo in June 2024; the team selected for Saturday is: Steward; Joseph, Slade, Ojomoh, Murley; Ford, Van Poortvliet; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Itoje, Martin, Coles, Earl, Pollock. Replacements: Dan, Iyogun, Heyes, Clark, Curry, Fisilau, McParland, M Smith.

The match kicks off at 16:40 GMT on Saturday 14 November and will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 Live and via the BBC Sport website and app.