Mike Brown to win 50th England cap against Australia

Mike Brown will win his 50th England cap when he runs out against Australia for the first of their three Tests in Brisbane on Saturday.
The Harlequins full-back is partnered by Anthony Watson and Marland Yarde in the back three while Luther Burrell and Jonathan Joseph are in midfield. Owen Farrell starts at fly-half alongside scrum-half Ben Youngs.
The pack is unchanged from the one that started in Paris earlier in the year when England beat France to be crowned Six Nations champions.
Amongst the returnees who missed the Wales Test two weeks ago due to club duties are the Saracens quarter of Billy and Mako Vuipola at No.8 and loosehead and lock Maro Itoje and George Kruis.
“We have picked a side to win in Brisbane,” said England Head Coach Eddie Jones. “As always selection was tight and naturally players are disappointed, but we’ve gone with a 23 that has a good mix of experience and youth.
“We aim to win every Test match we play and I am pleased with our preparation since we landed in Australia. The group have acclimatised well, trained hard and there’s a buzz around the camp.”
England have never won a Test series in Australia and Jones urged his side to get the southern hemisphere tour off to a winning start and “create history”.
“If you look at England’s record in Australia it’s pretty ordinary,” he said.
“We’ve only ever won three games in Australia so it’s a great opportunity to put down a marker and create history. It’s important we get off to a positive start and we’ll arrive in Brisbane ready to play physical and aggressive rugby.
“We’re excited to be playing against a strong Australian team in their backyard. The Wallabies are ranked second in the world and have the World Rugby coach of the year, so that’s why they start as favourites. There’s a lot of expectation on them to win the series convincingly.
“We have a young squad with an average age of 24 so we are still developing and improving. It’ll be a great challenge for us and one we’re looking forward to meeting head on.”
England: Mike Brown; Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Luther Burrell, Marland Yarde; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Mako Vunipola, Dylan Hartley (c), Dan Cole; Maro Itoje, George Kruis; Chris Robshaw, James Haskell, Billy Vunipola
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Matt Mullan, Paul Hill, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Danny Care, George Ford, Jack Nowell