The twins After been selected as the starting flankers for England’s Six Nations opener against Ireland on Saturday, Tom and Ben Curry will play together for the first time.
With back-row options Ollie Chessum, Chandler Cunningham-South, and Tom Willis on a bench with six forwards, the 26-year-old Sale duo will start either side of number eight Ben Earl.
Wing without a cap Exeter winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is sidelined due to a dislocated shoulder, and Cadan Murley is preferred to Ollie Sleightholme on the left wing.
In place of George Furbank, who is injured, Alex Mitchell has recovered from a knee injury to start at scrum-half, with Marcus Smith at fly-half and Freddie Steward at full-back.
Following Jamie George’s hamstring injury, Luke Cowan-Dickie begins at hooker, while Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence maintain their midfield pairing.
George Martin and Maro Itoje, who took George’s place as captain two weeks ago, will once again be paired in the second row.
When Tom Curry made his debut against Argentina in 2017 at the age of 18, he became the youngest England starter in over 90 years.
Ben has had to wait longer after being selected ahead of Tom for a game against the Barbarians earlier that summer but withdrawing due to a back injury.
In 2021, after being selected for the British and Irish Lions and participating in the World Cup final, Tom earned the first of his six caps against the United States.
In the final moments of England’s first fall international match against New Zealand in November, head coach Steve Borthwick had planned to play them together, but instead he substituted Ben for Tom off the bench.