England coach Stuart Lancaster is counting on the support of Twickenham against Wales after making a big call by naming British & Irish Lion Owen Farrell in his starting line-up at the expense of George Ford.
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Ford has been England’s leading fly-half since starting against Samoa last autumn but Lancaster has plumped for Farrell for Saturday’s clash, with the result likely to have huge ramifications in Pool A of the Rugby World Cup.
Farrell – who appeared seven times on tour with the Lions in 2013 – enjoyed a fine end to the season with club side Saracens, and outgunned Ford’s Bath at Twickenham in May.
In another change to the backs, Lions centre Brad Barritt moves to No.13 in the absence of the injured Jonathan Joseph, with cross-code convert Sam Burgess named on the inside.
Elsewhere Billy Vunipola packs down at No.8 after Ben Morgan failed to recover in time from a knee injury sustained against Fiji last week.
Lancaster said: "We have a lot of respect for the Wales coaching team and their players, they are a high quality side and I am sure it will some occasion on Saturday evening.
"The support at Twickenham last week was incredible with the crowd really getting behind us and we will need them again this week to lift the players against a tough Wales team."
And Warren Gatland has made ten changes to the team that beat Uruguay handsomely last weekend, with two-time Lion Gethin Jenkins set to play in his fourth World Cup.
Jenkins will do battle across from England prop Dan Cole in one of several match-ups between Lions across the park.
Locks Alun Wyn Jones and Geoff Parling will pit their wits against each other in the line-out while Barritt and Jamie Roberts, a Lions tourist in both 2009 and 2013, will do battle in the centres.
Dan Lydiate, Taulupe Faletau and captain Sam Warburton form an all-Lions back-row for Wales, and in some good news on the injury front Liam Williams has beaten a calf injury to line-up once more at full-back.
“Saturday is a huge occasion for both teams and for the tournament and we are really looking forward to it,” said Wales head coach Warren Gatland.
“Both sides kicked their tournament off with a bonus-point win but we know we will need to step up at Twickenham on Saturday.”
ENGLAND TEAM
15 Mike Brown
14 Anthony Watson
13 Brad Barritt
12 Sam Burgess
11 Jonny May
10 Owen Farrell
9 Ben Youngs
1 Joe Marler
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Geoff Parling
5 Courtney Lawes
6 Tom Wood
7 Chris Robshaw
8 Billy Vunipola
Replacements
16 Rob Webber
17 Mako Vunipola
18 Kieran Brookes
19 Joe Launchbury
20 James Haskell
21 Richard Wigglesworth
22 George Ford
23 Alex Goode
WALES TEAM
15. Liam Williams
14. George North
13. Scott Williams
12. Jamie Roberts
11. Hallam Amos
10. Dan Biggar
9. Gareth Davies
1.Gethin Jenkins
2. Scott Baldwin
3. Tomas Francis
4. Bradley Davies
5. Alun Wyn Jones
6. Dan Lydiate
7. Sam Warburton
8. Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements
16. Ken Owens
17. Aaron Jarvis
18. Samson Lee
19. Luke Charteris
20. Justin Tipuric
21. Lloyd Williams
22. Rhys Priestland
23. Alex Cuthbert.
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