By Mitch Phillips
LONDON (Reuters) – England full-back Freddie Steward, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet, flanker Sam Underhill and winger Ollie Sleightholme will all start against South Africa on Saturday as manager Steve Borthwick looks to end to a series of four consecutive defeats.

Steward was an England regular before losing his place to George Furbank last year, but his aerial abilities, combined with law changes encouraging more contestable kicking, helped persuade Borthwick to bring him back and to leave Furbank out of the named matchday squad on Thursday.

It will be a blow for Spencer, who started the defeats against New Zealand and Australia, his first starts in a six-year career, but after eight international caps he is still winless, having played in seven defeats and a draw.

Sleightholme, who looked lively in scoring two tries off the bench last week, replaces Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who is out with concussion, with Tommy Freeman moving to right wing and Tom Roebuck on the bench.

Underhill starts on the open flank after Tom Curry was also ruled out after suffering a concussion against New Zealand.

After losing twice to New Zealand in July and then at home to the All Blacks and Australia in the last two weeks – having trailed in all four games late on – Borthwick is desperate to get back to the top victory.

However, he faces an uphill task against the world champions who, having added the Rugby Championship to their CV, got their European tour off to a flying start with a 32-15 victory over Scotland last Sunday.

The last time England and South Africa met was in the World Cup semi-final just over a year ago, when the Springboks claimed a late 16-15 victory.

“We’re excited to compete against the top-ranked team in the world and back-to-back Rugby World Cup champions,” Borthwick said.

“Test matches against South Africa are always exciting contests, and I am sure Saturday will be no exception.”

The England team will face South Africa on Saturday (3:40 p.m. GMT)

15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 34 caps)

14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 13 caps)

13. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 29 caps)

12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 67 caps)

11. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)

10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 37 caps)

9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps)

1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 64 caps) – vice-captain

2. Jamie George (Saracens, 95 caps) – captain

3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 43 caps)

4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 86 caps) – vice-captain

5. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 17 caps)

6. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 9 caps)

7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 38 caps)

8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 35 caps) – vice-captain

Substitutes:

16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 42 caps)

17. Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 4 caps)

18. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 117 caps)

19. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 13 caps)

20. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 19 caps)

21. Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 9 caps)

22. George Ford (Sale Sharks, 98 caps) – vice-captain

23. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, 1 cap)

(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, Editing by Ken Ferris)

Disclaimer: This report is automatically generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint assumes no responsibility for its content.