England v New Zealand: Poppy Cleall to captain England for first time

Poppy Cleall will captain England for the first time in Sunday's rematch against New Zealand as regular skipper Sarah Hunter is pushed to the bench.

The 29-year-old said leading her country was "a huge honour".

Scrum-half Leanne Infante starts in place of Claudia MacDonald and will be vice-captain at Franklin's Gardens.

Cleall added: "I'm going to have to tell the girls what an honour it is because I'm not sure they quite realise how special it is to lead a team of incredible rugby players and people. I'm hugely proud."

Head coach Simon Middleton said: "With less than a year to go until the World Cup, it's important our leadership group is broad.

"We know what the side looks like when Sarah captains it against New Zealand. We wanted to know what it looked like with another captain. Poppy was perfectly placed to do that."

Helena Rowland, usually a fly-half for England, starts at inside centre in Northampton.

Zoe Harrison retains the starting 10 shirt after a player of the match performance Middleton described as "sensational" in Exeter.

Rowland's inclusion means Lagi Tuima is on the bench, with Holly Aitchison maintaining her place at 13 in the absence of injured star Emily Scarratt.

England: Kildunne; Thompson, Aitchison, Rowland, Dow; Harrison, Infante (vice-capt); Cornborough, Cokayne, Bern, Aldcroft, Ward, Matthews, Packer, Cleall (capt).

Replacements: Davies, Botterman, Muir, Millar-Mills, Hunter, MacDonald, Tuima, McKenna.

More to follow.