Three Saints stars start for England in Summer Series opener against Japan

Alex Mitchell, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank are all in the first 15, while Fin Smith is named among the replacements.

Alex Coles, Fraser Dingwall and uncapped Ollie Sleightholme are also part of the England squad but they will not feature this weekend.

The Red Rose take on Japan before heading to New Zealand for two Test matches against the All Blacks.

And England boss Steve Borthwick said: “We’re looking forward to the challenge of playing Japan at their National Stadium.

“Conditions in Tokyo mean we’ll need to be accurate, keep our discipline, and maintain a level of intensity in our performance from the first whistle to the last.

“We will need to be at our very best against an opponent who will want to play fast.”

England team to face Japan: 15 George Furbank (Saints, 9 caps); 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps), 13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 62 caps) - vice-captain, 12 Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 24 caps), 11 Tommy Freeman (Saints, 8 caps); 10 Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 32 caps), 9 Alex Mitchell (Saints, 15 caps); 1 Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 5 caps), 2 Jamie George (Saracens, 90 caps) – captain, 3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 112 caps); 4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 81 caps) - vice-captain; 5 George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 12 caps); 6 Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 4 caps), 7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 35 caps), 8 Ben Earl (Saracens, 30 caps) - vice-captain.

Replacements: 16 Theo Dan (Saracens, 12 caps), 17 Joe Marler (Harlequins, 93 caps) - vice-captain, 18 Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 38 caps), 19 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 30 caps), 20 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 50 caps), 21 Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 6 caps), 22 Fin Smith (Saints, 2 caps), 23 Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, uncapped).