Saints stars keep their place for England's second Test against New Zealand

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England have again named six Saints players in their matchday squad for Saturday's second Test against New Zealand at Eden Park (kick-off 8.05am BST).

Backs Alex Mitchell, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank all retain their places in the starting line-up from last weekend's 16-15 defeat in Dunedin.

Ollie Sleightholme, who made his international debut last Saturday, holds onto the No. 23 shirt, with Saints team-mates Alex Coles and Fin Smith also named among the replacements.

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England head coach Steve Borthwick said: “Eden Park is a stadium packed with history and with memories of great rugby encounters.

“We are delighted to be playing there this Saturday in what I anticipate will be another excellent Test encounter.

New Zealand has a formidable record at this venue, but with that comes the pressure of expectation.

"It will be interesting to see how New Zealand manages that expectation in front of a full house.”

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England’s final clash of the summer will be shown live on Sky Sports.

George Furbank impressed last Saturday (photo by SANKA VIDANAGAMA/AFP via Getty Images)George Furbank impressed last Saturday (photo by SANKA VIDANAGAMA/AFP via Getty Images)
George Furbank impressed last Saturday (photo by SANKA VIDANAGAMA/AFP via Getty Images)

England team to face New Zealand: 15 George Furbank (Saints, 11 caps); 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps), 13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 64 caps) – vice-captain, 12 Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 26 caps), 11 Tommy Freeman (Saints, 10 caps); 10 Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 34 caps), 9 Alex Mitchell (Saints, 17 caps); 1 Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 1 cap), 2 Jamie George (Saracens, 92 caps) – captain, 3 Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 40 caps); 4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 83 caps) – vice-captain, 5 George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps); 6 Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 6 caps), 7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 37 caps), 8 Ben Earl (Saracens, 32 caps) – vice-captain.

Replacements: 16 Theo Dan (Saracens, 13 caps), 17 Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 6 caps), 18 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 114 caps), 19 Alex Coles (Saints, 6 caps), 20 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 52 caps), 21 Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby, 6 caps), 22 Fin Smith (Saints, 4 caps), 23 Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, 1 cap).

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