Geraghty and Wilkinson in England XV
Wednesday, 4 November 2009 12:22England have named Shane Geraghty and Jonny Wilkinson in their starting XV to face Australia in Saturday's Investec Challenge Test match at Twickenham on Saturday.
Geraghty will line out at inside centre with Wilkinson playing at out-half and Harlequins' Danny Care at nine.
In the outside backs, size and hard running have been favoured with Ugo Monye, Dan Hipkiss and Matt Banahan all set to start along with the experienced Mark Cueto.
Up front, England have several injuries to contend with, with several frontline props and Quins captain and number eight Nick Easter among those unavailable.
hooker Rugby World Cup winning hooker Steve Thompson is called into the side. Tim Payne and David Wilson will prop.
Steve Borthwick will captain from the second row, with Louis Deacon alongside him. In his absence, the back-row will consist of Tom Croft, Lewis Moody and Jordan Crane with James Haskell providing cover on the bench.
The 22-man squad includes five exiles making their living in France with Haskell at Stade Francais, Wilkinson at Toulon, Thompson and Andy Goode at Brive, and Biarritz player Ayoola Erinle all included.
England team to play Australia in Saturday's Investec Challenge at Twickenham, kick-off 2.30pm:
U Monye (Harlequins); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), D Hipkiss (Leicester), S Geraghty (Northampton), M Banahan (Bath); J Wilkinson (Toulon), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), S Thompson (Brive), D Wilson (Bath), L Deacon (Leicester), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), T Croft (Leicester), L Moody (Leicester), J Crane (Leicester).
Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), D Bell (Bath), C Lawes (Northampton), J Haskell (Stade Francais), P Hodgson (London Irish), A Goode (Brive), A Erinle (Biarritz).
