On July 2, England's rugby coach Steve Borthwick announced the squad to face South Africa in their opening Nations Championship fixture in Johannesburg on Saturday. Fin Smith was chosen to start at flyhalf, wearing the number 10 jersey, ahead of Marcus Smith, who is named among the replacements.

Livewire back row Henry Pollock will be on the bench. Jamie George will captain the side in place of the rested Maro Itoje. The back three includes wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and fullback George Furbank, who return to the starting lineup alongside Cadan Murley.

In the forwards, Alex Coles and George Martin form the lock pairing, filling in for Itoje. The starting XV is completed by Jack van Poortvliet at scrum-half, Ben Earl at number eight, Tom Curry and Ollie Chessum in the back row, Joe Heyes and Ellis Genge in the front row, and Seb Atkinson and Tommy Freeman in the centers.

The replacements include Luke Cowan-Dickie, Beno Obano, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Charlie Ewels, Guy Pepper, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell, and Marcus Smith.

Coach Borthwick expressed enthusiasm ahead of the match, stating, "I sense a real excitement within the squad to get our Nations Championship campaign under way.”