Blow for England as Furbank ruled out of second New Zealand test

England fullback George Furbank has been ruled out of the second test against New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday and will be replaced by Freddie Steward, the team said on Friday.

Furbank was one of England's best performers in the 16-15 loss to the All Blacks in Dunedin last week and would have been one of the first names on Steve Borthwick's team sheet for the second and final test at Eden Park.

A back injury, however, has ruled him out of the clash and Steward, who all but owned the England number 15 shirt from 2021 until halfway through this year's Six Nations, will play his first match since mid-May.

New Zealand are unbeaten at Eden Park in 50 tests going back to 1994, while England have not beaten the All Blacks in their own backyard since 2003.

Revised England team: 15-Freddie Steward, 14-Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13-Henry Slade, 12-Ollie Lawrence, 11-Tommy Freeman, 10-Marcus Smith, 9-Alex Mitchell, 8-Ben Earl, 7-Sam Underhill, 6-Chandler Cunningham-South, 5-George Martin, 4-Maro Itoje, 3-Will Stuart, 2-Jamie George (captain), 1-Fin Baxter

Replacements: 16-Theo Dan, 17-Bevan Rodd, 18-Dan Cole, 19- Alex Coles, 20-Tom Curry, 21-Ben Spencer, 22-Fin Smith, 23-Ollie Sleightholme.