George Furbank to miss England's Auckland Test against New Zealand

George Furbank is suffering from a back spasm
George Furbank is suffering from a back spasm
©Steve Haag

England have suffered an injury blow ahead of the second Test against New Zealand to be played on Saturday with fullback George Furbank ruled out of the encounter.

Furbank played a key role in England's 16-15 win in Dunedin and was slotted at fullback for the weekend's encounter but now a back spasm has forced him to be on the sidelines.

He will now be replaced by Freddie Steward in England's starting XV which will be his first appearance since the Six Nations game in February.

"From our perspective as a team, nothing really changes," Sam Underhill told BBC Sport.

"Their styles are different but their skillsets are also very similar. They are both very good at running the ball, both very good in the air and both have good kicking games.

"As a team, we have to trust ourselves to react well to it."

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

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