Farrell starts at fly-half for England against Springboks
Owen Farrell will start at fly-half for England in their opening November international against South Africa after being named in the pivotal position when coach Eddie Jones announced his matchday 23 on Thursday.
Farrell has spent most of his England career under Australian coach Jones at inside centre, with George Ford at stand-off.
But it is Farrell, recently elevated to the position of co-captain alongside regular skipper Dylan Hartley who will wear the No 10 shirt against the Springboks at Twickenham on Saturday with Ford on the bench.
Danny Cipriani, despite being England's starting No 10 in their most recent game against South Africa in June and producing an excellent opening to the season at new club Gloucester, had already been left out of Jones's initial training squad with the coach labelling him a "third-choice" fly-half.
England team to play South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday (1500 GMT kick-off):
England (15-1)
Elliot Daly; Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, Ben Te'o, Jonny May; Owen Farrell (co-capt), Ben Youngs; Mark Wilson, Tom Curry, Brad Shields; George Kruis, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Dylan Hartley (co-capt), Alec Hepburn
Replacements: Jamie George, Ben Moon, Harry Williams, Charlie Ewels, Zach Mercer, Danny Care, George Ford, Manu Tuilagi