England pick Mitchell and May to face Argentina

Alex Mitchell started in England's final warm-up game against Fiji

Alex Mitchell and Jonny May will start for England in their World Cup opener against Argentina despite initially missing out on the 33-man squad.

George Ford will start at fly-half with captain Owen Farrell banned for the first two pool games.

Flanker Tom Curry starts his first game since the Premiership final in May.

Open-side Curry, who started the 2019 World Cup final defeat by South Africa, is yet to feature for England this summer after recovering from an ankle injury.

Ben Earl replaces Saracens team-mate Billy Vunipola, who is suspended for the opening game following his red card against Ireland in England's penultimate warm-up game, at number eight.

Courtney Lawes completes the back row on the blind-side and continues as captain in the absence of Farrell.

Wing Elliot Daly has recovered from a knee injury to join May and regular full-back Freddie Steward in the back three.

Harlequins' Joe Marchant partners Manu Tuilagi in the midfield - as they did in the defeat by Ireland in Dublin.

Replacement scrum-half Danny Care is given the nod over Leicester Tigers' Ben Youngs on the bench in what could be only his second World Cup appearance, having made his first against Uruguay in 2015.

England, who are ranked eighth in the world, lost three of their four warm-up games heading into the World Cup.

Borthwick's side also face Japan, Chile and Samoa in Pool D, with the top two sides progressing to the quarter-finals.

Line-up

England team to face Argentina: Steward; May, Marchant, Tuilagi, Daly; Ford, Mitchell; Genge, George, Cole; Itoje, Chessum; Lawes (capt), Curry, Earl.

Replacements: Dan, Marler, Stuart, Martin, Ludlam, Care, Smith, Lawrence.

More to follow.