England take on Australia at Twickenham on
Saturday looking for a winning start to the
autumn Test series.
Stuart Lancaster's men also face Argentina and New
Zealand on consecutive weekends as they look to build
momentum for the 2015 World Cup.
Joel Tomkins will make his debut for England, who are
without five of their British and Irish Lions tourists.
"We need to get our own detail right and hit the
ground running," said assistant coach Andy Farrell.
"Injuries are inevitable. You've got to have a strong
squad and a strong culture to cope with that, and we're
certainly confident with what we've got."
Twenty-six-year-old Tomkins, who switched codes from
rugby league in 2011, partners Billy Twelvetrees in
midfield, while number eight Vunipola joins brother
Mako in the pack.
Marland Yarde wins his second cap on the wing, while
scrum-half Lee Dickson is preferred to Ben Youngs,
who played for the Lions during their 2-1 series win in
Australia earlier this year.
Lock Geoff Parling, flanker Tom Croft, prop Alex
Corbisiero and centres Manu Tuilagi and Brad Barritt
are the five English Lions players who miss out through
injury.
England lost 20-14 to Australia in the same fixture last
year before a 16-15 defeat by South Africa and a
record 38-21 victory over New Zealand.
But at the end of a promising Six Nations campaign
they saw their Grand Slam hopes dashed in a 30-3 rout
by Wales at Cardiff.
While the Lions toured Australia, England won both
their Tests in Argentina with a largely second-string
squad that included several of the players who will start
on Saturday.
Flanker Tom Wood captained England in Argentina, but
will hand the armband back to open-side colleague
Chris Robshaw on Saturday.
Wood, though, will provide additional leadership and
help instil the required levels of performance.
"It's all about intensity and if you've got it, you've got
it," said Wood. "England is your club level plus 20%
and more.
"We don't have to have a kicking from the coaches or
be dragged through the mud by the press before we
have a reaction and say 'yeah, we're up for it'.
"We have to set our own standards. This is England and
this is what we are about. The new guys have to realise
that. Otherwise you lose."
Australia have won three of their 10 internationals in
2013 - one against the Lions, and two versus Argentina
in a disappointing Rugby Championship campaign
which saw them finish a distance third behind New
Zealand and South Africa.
The Wallabies, who lost their most recent match 41-33
to New Zealand on 19 October, have brought in
number eight Ben Mowen as skipper for the second
time in place of James Horwill.
"I'd say this is the most focused I've seen the side, this
last couple of months, from my short time being
involved," said Mowen, who won his first cap in the
23-21 defeat by the Lions in June.
"The fixture is obviously very important to both sides.
It usually brings the best out of Australian players so we
can't wait."
Quade Cooper is back in favour at fly-half for the
Wallabies under new coach Ewen McKenzie, having
been left out of the Lions series by McKenzie's
predecessor Robbie Deans.
"He's a box of tricks but he has a lot of control in his
game as well, and has matured a lot over the last year
or so," said Farrell of Cooper.
"I think he's enjoying his rugby, and that's always a
threat."
TEAM LINE-UPS
England: 15-Mike Brown, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Joel
Tomkins, 12-Billy Twelvetrees, 11-Marlon Yarde, 10-
Owen Farrell, 9-Lee Dickson; 1 -Maku Vunipola, 2-Tom
Youngs, 3-Dan Cole, 4-Joe Launchbury, 5-Courtney
Lawes, 6-Tom Wood, 7-Chris Robshaw (captain), 8-Billy
Vunipola.
Replacements: 16-Dylan Hartley, 17-Joe Marler, 18-
Dave Wilson, 19-Dave Attwood, 20-Ben Morgan, 21-
Ben Youngs, 22-Toby Flood, 23-Ben Foden
Australia: 15-Israel Folau, 14-Adam Ashley-Cooper,
13-Tevita Kuridrani, 12-Matt Toomua, 11-Nick
Cummins, 10-Quade Cooper, 9-Will Genia, 8-Ben
Mowen, 7-Michael Hooper, 6-Scott Fardy, 5-James
Horwill, 4-Sitaleki Timani, 3-Ben Alexander, 2-Stephen
Moore, 1-James Slipper
Replacements: 16-Saia Fainga'a, 17-Benn Robinson,
18-Sekope Kepu, 19-Kane Douglas, 20-Ben McCalman,
21-Nic White, 22-Christian Leali'ifano, 23-Bernard
Foley.
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