England U19s head coach Tosh Askew has made five changes to the team that were knocked out of the IRB U19s World Championship semi-finals this week by host nation South Africa ahead of Sunday's third and fourth place play-off clash against Australia.
England are looking to improve on last year's fourth place finish in the tournament with victory over a talented young Australian side at the ABSA Stadium in Durban. Australia will be tough opposition having not lost a game this tournament - they were knocked out through losing a penalty shoot-out against New Zealand on Wednesday in Pietermaritzburg.
Askew has stuck with the proven front-row combination of Dylan Hartley, Chris Brooker and Tom Mercey, but brings in Sale's David Tait in the backrow with Leeds player Andrew Boyde sidelined through injury.
Gloucester's Ryan Lamb switches from scrum-half to fly-half with Wasps' Daniel Cipriani ruled out through concussion while London Irish's Derry Coughlan, who was a late call-up to the squad, starts in the number nine jersey. In the backs London Irish's Dominic Shabbo starts on the right wing with Bath's Nick Abendanon moving to the left wing.
Askew said: "This is a massive game for us. We want to improve on last year's result in this tournament when we finished fourth. A win is also very important for morale. We want to finish this tournament on a winning note.
"However the biggest thing for us is to get a win against a Southern Hemisphere side. We have picked up wins against all the Northern Hemisphere sides we have played this season, but now we want to make another step up.
"There has been very little between us and the three other top sides (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) so we are expecting another massive game on Sunday. Australia have got a very strong backrow, they play a good kicking game, they are very well organised in defence and they stay on their feet well. It will definitely be another physical encounter and also a mental challenge with both sides looking to pick themselves up after being knocked out of the semi-finals."
England U19s
15 Shane Geraghty (London Irish)
14 Dominic Shabbo (London Irish)
13 Anthony Allen (Gloucester)
12 Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
11 Nick Abendanon (Bath)
10 Ryan Lamb (Gloucester)
9 Derry Coughlan (London Irish)
1 Dylan Hartley (Worcester)
2 Chris Brooker (Bath)
3 Tom Mercey (Saracens)
4 James Inglis (NEC Harlequins)
5 Alex Rae (Worcester)
6 David Tait (Sale Sharks).
7 Donald Barrell (Saracens)
8 Jordan Crane (Leeds Tykes) Captain
Replacements: Kevin Davis (Leicester Tigers), Rob Webber (Leeds Tykes), Alex Rogers (NEC Harlequins), Mike Myerscough (Bath), Adam Powell (Saracens), Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps), Alex Wright (Leicester Tigers).