Saints star Freeman starts for England against Barbarians

Freeman has been handed the 15 shirt for the non-cap clash, with club-mate Courtney Lawes named among the replacements.

The Barbarians match forms a key part of Eddie Jones’ side’s preparation for their upcoming tour of Australia.

England will play three tests against the Wallabies, in Perth (July 2), Brisbane (July 9) and Sydney (July 16).

And head coach Jones said: “This is a young team, they have prepared really well and worked hard over the past few camps to come together as a group.

"It is a great opportunity to play in this England XV side and show what they can do.

“We are looking forward to playing against an unusually French Barbarians side – which you normally only get when you play the French Barbarians.

“We’ll use it as an opportunity to develop combinations and assess players for the Australia tour.

“We will put our best foot forward and it should make for a great game of rugby for all of the supporters at Twickenham.”

England team to face Barbarians: Tommy Freeman (Saints); Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby), Joe Marchant (Harlequins), Mark Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby); Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears); Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Jack Walker (Harlequins), Will Collier (Harlequins); Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby), Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs); Tom Curry (c) (Sale Sharks), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)

Replacements: Jack Singleton (Gloucester Rugby), Will Goodrick-Clarke (London Irish), Patrick Schickerling (Exeter Chiefs), Courtney Lawes (Saints), Jack Willis (Wasps), Danny Care (Harlequins), Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)

Barbarians: 15. Max Spring (France, R92); 14. Damien Penaud (France, Clermont), 13. Virimi Vakatawa (France, R92), 12. Levani Botia (Fiji, La Rochelle), 11. Davit Niniashvili (Georgia, Lyon); 10. Antoine Hastoy (France, Pau), 9. Batiste Couilloud (France, Lyon); 1. Jean-Baptiste Gros (France, Toulon), 2. Pierre Bourgarit (France, La Rochelle), 3. Beka Gigashvili (Georgia, Toulon), 4. George Kruis (England, Panasonic Wild Knights), 5. Will Skelton (Australia, La Rochelle), 6., Dylan Cretin (France, Lyon), 7. Charles Ollivon (C) (France, Toulon), 8. Yoan Tanga (France, R92).

Replacements: 16. Danny Priso (France, La Rochelle), 17. Christopher Tolofua (France, Toulon), 18. Sipili Falatea (France, Clermont), 19. Thomas Lavault (La Rochelle), 20. Nolann Le Garrec (R92), 21. Louis Carbonel (France, Toulon), 22. Sekou Macalou (France, Stade Francais), 23, Tani Vili (France, Clermont), 24. Thomas Laclayat (Oyonnax – travelling reserve).