Quilter Nations Series team news: Ford and Van der Merwe start in opening games

The Quilter Nations Series kicks off this weekend, with George Ford and Duhan van der Merwe among those to start for the Home Nations sides.Ford will take his place in the No.10 position following a series of impressive performances in the summer tour of Argentina and the United States.
Van der Merwe will earn his 50th cap for Scotland against the United States, in a side skippered by centre Stafford McDowall.
There is also a mouth-watering clash between Ireland and New Zealand to look forward to, with one of Owen Farrell’s biggest calls being the decision to choose Stuart McCloskey ahead of Bundee Aki at inside centre.
New Zealand have reintroduced Beauden Barrett and Caleb Clarke into their starting XV for the clash against Ireland in Chicago.
Get all your team news below ahead of the Quilter Nations Series, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
England v Australia – Quilter Nations Series
England: 15. F Steward; 14. T Roebuck, 13. T Freeman, 12. F Dingwall, 11. I Feyi-Waboso; 10. G Ford, 9. A Mitchell; 1. F Baxter, 2. J George, 3. J Heyes, 4. M Itoje (c), 5. O Chessum, 6. G Pepper, 7. S Underhill, 8. B Earl
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge, Stuart, Coles, T Curry, Pollock, Spencer, F Smith
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Australia: 15. A Kellaway, 14. M Jorgensen, 13. J-A Suaalii, 12. H Paisami, 11. H Potter, 10. T Edmed, 9. J Gordon; 1. A Bell, 2. B Pollard, 3. T Tupuo, 4. N Frost, 5. J Williams, 6. R Valetini, 7. F McReight, 8. H Wilson (c)
Replacements: Nasser, Robertson, Alaalatoa, Salakaia-Loto, Champion de Crespigny, Lonergan, Stewart, Daugunu
Japan v South Africa – International Test
Japan: 15 Y. Yazaki, 14 K. Ishida, 13 D. Riley, 12 C. Lawrence, 11 T. Osada, 10 L. Seung-sin, 9 S. Fujiwara; 8 M. Leitch (c), 7 K. Shimokawa, 6 B. Gunter, 5 W. Dearns, 4 J. Cornelsen, 3 S. Takeuchi, 2 K. Sato, 1 K. Kobayashi
Replacements: 16 S. Hirao, 17 R. Iwaihara, 18 K. Tamefusa, 19 T. Paul, 20 F. Makisi, 21 K. Fukuda, 22 S. Greene, 23 T. Costley
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South Africa: 15 C. Kolbe, 14 E. Hooker, 13 J. Kriel, 12 D. de Allende, 11 K-L. Arendse, 10 S. Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 C. Reinach; 8 J. Wiese, 7 F. Mostert, 6 S. Kolisi (c), 5 L. de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Z. Porthen, 2 M. Marx, 1 O. Nche
Replacements: 16 J. Grobbelaar, 17 G. Steenekamp, 18 W. Louw, 19 R. Nortje, 20 A. Esterhuizen, 21 K. Smith, 22 G. Williams, 23 M. Libbok
Scotland v United States – Quilter Nations Series
Scotland: 15. K. Rowe, 14. D. Graham, 13. O. Smith, 12. S. McDowall (c), 11. D. van der Merwe, 10. A. Hastings, 9. J. Dobie; 1. R. Sutherland, 2. P. Harrison, 3. D. Rae, 4. S. Cummings, 5. M. Sykes, 6. L. McConnell, 7. D. Richardson, 8. J. Dempsey.
Replacements: 16. H. Morris, 17. N. McBeth, 18. M. Walker, 19. A. Samuel, 20. M. Williamson, 21. M. Bradbury, 22. G. Horne, 23. R. Thompson.
USA: 15 E. Storti, 14 M. Wilson, 13 D. Besag, 12 T. Boni, 11 T. Fricker, 10 C. Hilsenbeck, 9 R. de Haas; 8 P. Ryan, 7 C. Daniel, 6 V. Helu, 5 J. Damm (c), 4 M. Redelinghuys, 3 P. Davis, 2 K. Geiger, 1 E. Lindenmuth
Replacements: 16 S. McNulty, 17 P. Telea-Ilalio, 18 M. Niuafe, 19 T. Naqali, 20 M. Alikahn, 21 E. McVeigh, 22 T. Lopeti, 23 L. Carty
Ireland v New Zealand: ‘Gallagher Cup – The Rematch’
Ireland: 15. J Osborne, 14. T O’Brien, 13. G Ringrose, 12. S McCloskey, 11. J Lowe, 10. J Crowley, 9. J Gibson-Park; 1. A Porter, 2. D Sheehan (c), 3. T Furlong, 4. J Ryan, 5. T Beirne, 6. R Baird, 7. J van der Flier, 8. J Conan
Replacements: R Kelleher, P McCarthy, F Bealham, I Henderson, C Doris, C Casey, S Prendergast, B Aki
New Zealand: 15. W Jordan, 14. L Carter, 13. Q Tupaea, 12. J Barrett, 11. C Clarke, 10. B Barrett, 9. C Roigard; 1. E de Groot, 2. C Taylor, 3. F Newell, 4. S Barrett (c), 5. F Holland, 6. S Parker, 7. A Savea, 8. P Lakai
Replacements: S Taukei’aho, T Williams, P Tosi, J Lord, W Sititi, C Ratima, L Fainga’anuku, D McKenzie
How to watch the Quilter Nations Series
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
You can subscribe to TNT Sports through discovery+, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.To find out where your local establishments showing TNT Sports are, use our Pub Finder tool.
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Stream the Gallagher Premiership, Quilter Nations Series and Premiership Women’s Rugby on TNT Sports and discovery+




