Vunipola is paying the price for an erratic display against Argentina when his handling let him down on several occasions, while Tuilagi is out after sitting out midway through the second half against the Pumas with a blister. Jones’ decision to start Van Portvliet at scrum-half is less surprising given his impressive display off the bench against Argentina, while May provides extra pace on the wing in place of Joe Koakanasiga, just three weeks after dislocating his elbow of. Ribbans, meanwhile, comes in for Northampton team-mate Alex Coles in the second row after being an unused substitute last time out. Simmonds last started for England in the Six Nations defeat to France in March, but will bring more pace to the No8 shirt against Japan. Vunipola has impressed since returning to the squad on the summer tour of Australia but was unable to impress against the Pumas. Van Poortvliet wins his fifth cap and his first Twickenham starts with Ben Youngs dropping to the bench. Porter is another who played his part in the win over the Wallabies but missed the win against Argentina. Tuilagi’s relegation to the bench comes as a surprise, but Jones revealed the decision was made in order to balance his workload with matches against New Zealand and South Africa coming after Saturday’s game. “We worked hard this week to improve on last week’s performance,” Jones said. “We saw our preparation well and we are happy with our position in the game. We’ve made a few changes to the squad as we play these four games in November. In particular with Manu we balance his workload. Japan is a very good and interesting side. They play a unique brand of rugby that relies on continuity and team cohesion and we will have to be at our best against them at Twickenham on Saturday.” Elsewhere, Owen Farrell continues to captain the side and earns his 99th England cap, while Freddie Steward and Jack Nowell remain in the top three and Marcus Smith retains his place at fly-half. Elis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Kyle Sinckler remain in the front row with Jonny Hill lining up alongside Ribbans and Itoje continuing at blindside flanker and Tom Curry again at openside. Jamie George returns to the bench to join Mako Vunipola and Joe Hayes as front-row replacements and join Coles and Billy Vunipola as back-up forwards. Youngs, Henry Slade and Tuilagi are also on the bench, meaning there is no place in the squad for Jack Willis and Joe Cokanasiga.
