Robson will captain England against SA Barbarians

GEORGE ROBSON will captain England in Wednesday’s match against the South Africa Southern Barbarians in Kimberley.

In a double for Aviva Premiership club Harlequins, Robson will follow Chris Robshaw in leading a team out in the second tour match at GWK Park.

The starting line-up is completely changed from the one for the 1st Test in Durban and England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “Every one of the 22 is desperate to play. They have trained superbly and their attitude while waiting for their chance has been first class. There is a lot of competition for places across the board and Wednesday gives these players a chance to lay down a marker and for the whole squad to build some momentum towards Saturday’s Test.

“George (Robson) has had a tremendous season for Harlequins, has made a great contribution to this tour already, both in training and as part of the leadership group, and I know he will captain the team well. Only Ugo Monye and Alex Corbisiero will not have had any game time by the end of Wednesday but there will still be three matches to go and their opportunity will come.”

Nick Abendanon, who joined the England camp this morning to replace the injured Mike Brown, took a full part in training and will be on the replacements’ bench.

England v SA Southern Barbarians,
Wednesday, 13 June 2012 at GWK Park
Kick:off: 1400 BST, live on Sky Sports HD

Starting XV:
15, Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle, 13 Anthony Allen, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Danny Care, 1 Matt Mullan, 2 Joe Gray, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 4 Graham Kitchener, 5 George Robson (C), 6 James Haskell, 7 Carl Fearns, 8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements
16 Tom Youngs, 17 Rupert Harden, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Jamie Gibson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 George Lowe, 22 Nick Abendanon