Saints star Lawes to skipper England against Australia

And Lewis Ludlam will also be involved in the first Test, having been named among the replacements for the clash at the Optus Stadium.

Lawes will lead out his country again on his 94th appearance for England, with the 33-year-old closing in on 100 Tests in total, having also played five for the British & Irish Lions.

Australia vs England is live on Sky Sports Main Event, with coverage from 10.15am BST.

The teams will then travel to Brisbane for the second Test (Saturday, July 9, 11am BST) and Sydney for the third Test (Saturday, July 16, 11am BST).

England boss Eddie Jones said: “We have had very strong preparation for this game. We did some good recovery work in Fremantle, and quality training in Perth.

“The squad has come together well since we met up last week.

“Picking the 23 out of this group of 36 was difficult.

"We feel we have a well-balanced team which is ready for this improving Australia team.

"We’ll take it to them from the start.”

Australia have also named their team for this weekend's fixture, with former Saints player Andrew Kellaway set to line up on the wing.

England side to face Australia: Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 10 caps); Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 39 caps), Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 12 caps), Owen Farrell (Saracens, 94 caps), Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 11 caps); Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 10 caps), Danny Care (Harlequins, 84 caps); Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 36 caps), Jamie George (Saracens, 66 caps), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 20 caps); Maro Itoje (Saracens, 56 caps), Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 12 caps); Courtney Lawes (Saints, 93 caps) – captain, Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 40 caps), Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 61 caps)

Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 34 caps), Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 67 caps), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps), Lewis Ludlam (Saints, 11 caps), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, uncapped), Guy Porter (Leicester Tigers, uncapped), Henry Arundell (London Irish, uncapped)