Stuart Lancaster has denied England’s selection for tomorrow’s World Cup Pool A showdown with Wales has been influenced by how the visitors will play at Twickenham.
Owen Farrell has been selected at fly-half, with George Ford demoted, Sam Burgess at inside centre and Billy Vunipola at No 8 in place of Ben Morgan, who has a knee injury.
Brad Barritt has been shifted to outside centre after a chest injury for Jonathan Joseph and to accommodate Burgess, who has 112 minutes of Test experience, in Lancaster’s 14th centre combination.
“There’s definitely no panic,” Lancaster said yesterday. “I am backing our own players. I’m backing the players we’ve picked for the Matchday 23.”
Ford has lost his place as first-choice playmaker, a position he had held since last autumn, to make room for Farrell despite showing solid form in the 35-11 victory over Fiji.
Lancaster said Farrell had been pushing hard for a starting berth.
“He contributed well last week against Fiji,” he said. “He’s pushed George hard and I think it’s the right time to start him, in a big game like this.”
The Farrell-Burgess-Barritt combination, the most muscular trio available to Lancaster, has been chosen in anticipation of the looming gainline struggle with Wales.
Burgess starts for England for the second time following his switch from rugby league 10 months ago.
“It’s a big game for him. He’s more than capable of playing at this level,” Lancaster said. “He’s not got the international rugby union experience, but he’s got the big game experience.”
There are also misgivings over Burgess’s readiness to start a Test of this magnitude at inside centre, particularly given he will be facing British & Irish Lions veteran Jamie Roberts.
Burgess is still learning his trade in the new code, and any lapses in defensive positioning are expected to be exposed by Roberts.
Those concerns are not shared by Lancaster.
He said: “My confidence has grown on the back of what he’s done, the way he’s come on and contributed off the bench.
“We scored two tries at the end of the game against Fiji; they were a lot to do with Owen Farrell and Sam Burgess.”
Hallam Amos has received a 21st birthday present to savour by being named in the Wales starting line-up for the clash at Twickenham.
Newport Gwent Dragons back Amos, who turned 21 yesterday, takes over from Alex Cuthbert, who is on the bench, while there are also starts for Exeter tighthead prop Tomas Francis and Wasps lock Bradley Davies.
Samson Lee and Aaron Jarvis provide prop cover on the bench. Prop Paul James, who suffered a tight calf muscle against Uruguay last Sunday, does not make the matchday 23.
There is no place in the Wales coach Warren Gatland’s squad for scrum-half Mike Phillips, who was called into Wales’ World Cup squad when Rhys Webb suffered a tournament-ending foot injury.
Elsewhere, 115 times-capped prop Gethin Jenkins will start his fourth World Cup campaign, packing down in the front row alongside Francis and hooker Scott Baldwin.
Meanwhile, Wales have received an official warning from World Rugby.
It follows what World Rugby describes as “an apparent breach” of the World Cup terms of participation agreement regarding training arrangements.
Wales included several players from outside their 31-man World Cup squad during a training session in Surrey on Wednesday.
World Rugby said in a statement that, having reviewed the matter, it was satisfied that no deliberate breach of regulations was intended.
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