Borthwick praise for McParland with Saints ace in line for England debut
Steve Borthwick has labelled Archie McParland ‘an outstanding young talent’ as the Saints scrum-half prepares to make his England debut on Saturday.
McParland has recovered from a calf injury to be named among the replacements for the Nations Championship match against Japan at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (kick-off 4.40pm).
Alex Coles starts at six, and Henry Pollock at No.8, while Manny Iyogun joins McParland among the replacements.
Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman are rested, while Tom Pearson and Fraser Dingwall miss out on making the 23.
But a big day beckons for 21-year-old McParland, who has gone from strength to strength since emerging from the Saints Academy.
And England boss Borthwick said: “We're all delighted for Archie.
“He's had some bad luck with injury, so it's especially pleasing to be able to name him in an England matchday 23 for the first time.
“He's an outstanding young talent who has worked hard to get to this point, and we're all excited to see how he goes.”
England were 45-22 winners against Australia in their opening match of the autumn campaign last Sunday.
And they now turn their attentions to taking on a Japan team who lost 28-21 to Wales in Cardiff last Saturday.
“Japan are a very well-coached side who will challenge us in different ways, and we know we'll need to bring intensity throughout the game,” said Borthwick, who has made 10 changes to his team for this weekend’s game.
“The atmosphere at Allianz Stadium last week was incredible. The players really fed off the energy in the stadium, and we're really looking forward to being back on Saturday.”
England team to face Japan: 15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 44 caps); 14. Will Joseph (Gloucester Rugby, 1 cap), 13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 78 caps), 12. Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby, 2 caps), 11. Cadan Murley (Harlequins, 7 caps); 10. George Ford (Sale Sharks, 108 caps) – vice-captain, 9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 28 caps); 1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 84 caps) – vice-captain, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 62 caps), 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, 8 caps); 4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 103 caps) – captain, 5. George Martin (Saracens, 25 caps); 6. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 23 caps), 7. Ben Earl (Saracens, 55 caps), 8. Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, 14 caps).
Replacements: 16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 20 caps), 17. Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints, 1 cap), 18. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 26 caps), 19. Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby, 1 cap), 20. Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 15 caps), 21. Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap), 22. Archie McParland (Northampton Saints, uncapped), 23. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 54 caps).