Marcus and Fin Smith return with Itoje on the bench for England v Fiji clash

Steve Borthwick has recalled Marcus and Fin Smith and named his captain Maro Itoje on the bench for England’s autumn internationals clash with Fiji. Ellis Genge will lead the side from the start with Borthwick ringing the changes for Saturday’s encounter with the Pacific Islanders.

Marcus Smith comes in at full-back with namesake Fin replacing George Ford at fly-half while Itoje drops to the bench. Itoje, who exceeded the mandated game limits last season, is listed as co-captain along with Genge, who starts at loosehead prop. In total, Borthwick has made seven personnel changes with Ollie Lawrence, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Alex Coles and Chandler Cunningham-South coming into the side. Tommy Freeman reverts to the right wing while Henry Pollock must make do with a place on the bench again.

Marcus Smith last started for England in their record victory over Wales in Cardiff in March and is again handed the No 15 jersey despite his preference to play at fly-half. Freddie Steward, who started at full-back in last weekend’s victory over Australia, has been struggling with a hand injury and is absent from the 23. Fin Smith, meanwhile, ousts Ford from the No 10 jersey having been among the replacements against the Wallabies.

Lawrence, who has been in fine form for Bath since returning from an achilles injury, gets the nod at outside-centre with Freeman shifting to the wing. Tom Roebuck, who impressed against Australia, picked up an ankle injury in training this weekend and is not named in the 23.

Borthwick’s decision to leave Itoje on the bench comes after his heavy workload in recent years. The Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, gave Itoje an extra week off at the start of the season following his exertions with the Lions and was hopeful Borthwick may do similar this autumn. Genge will captain the side from the start for the third time with Itoje taking over when he comes off the bench.

Elsewhere, Cowan-Dickie starts at hooker with Genge and Joe Heyes alongside him while Coles and Ollie Chessum start in the second row. Guy Pepper remains at blindside flanker with Ben Earl shifting to openside and Cunningham-South coming in at No 8. Sam Underhill drops out of the squad while Tom Curry is again on the bench.

Alex Mitchell and Fraser Dingwall keep their places at scrum-half and inside-centre respectively while Immanuel Feyi-Waboso stays on the left wing. On the bench are Jamie George, Fin Baxter, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Itoje, Curry, Pollock, Ben Spencer and Henry Arundell.

“It was a pleasing start to the series against Australia last weekend, and we know we’ll need to take another step forward against Fiji,” said Borthwick. “The focus for us this week is on improving on last weekend’s performance and continuing to develop our game.

“Fiji are a dangerous team with power and quality right across the pitch. They play with physicality and skill, so we’ll need to bring intensity, accuracy and discipline in everything that we do. Playing in front of our supporters again at Allianz Stadium means a huge amount to the players, and the team are determined to deliver a performance they can be proud of.”