Farrell, Itoje retained in England squad

Nov 14, 2017 - 4:04 PM England coach Eddie Jones is set to recall Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje to face Australia after they were included in an initial 25-man squad.

Farrell and Itoje were both rested for England's underwhelming 21-8 victory over Argentina last weekend as part of Jones's long-term plan to ease the workload of some of his players who are also British and Irish Lions.

George Kruis, who started against Argentina, as well as Ellis Genge and Alex Lozowski, both of whom came on as substitutes, are among nine players to return to their clubs.

Loosehead prop Joe Marler returns from suspension, while winger Jonny May continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

England are looking for a fifth consecutive win against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.

ENGLAND: BACKS: Mike Brown, Elliot Daly, Jonny May, Semesa Rokoduguni, Anthony Watson, Danny Care, Owen Farrell, George Ford , Jonathan Joseph, Henry Slade, Ben Youngs. FORWARDS: Charlie Ewels, Nathan Hughes, Maro Itoje, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Sam Simmonds, Sam Underhill, Dan Cole, Jamie George, Dylan Hartley, Joe Marler, Mako Vunipola, Harry Williams. PLAYERS RELEASED: Tom Dunn, Piers Francis, Ellis Genge, Nick Isiekwe, George Kruis, Alex Lozowski, Zach Mercer, Marcus Smith, Denny Solomona.

Source: AAP