Wednesday 2 September 2015 13:01, UK
England coach Stuart Lancaster has opted for Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph as his centre pairing for Saturday's final World Cup warm-up game against Ireland at Twickenham.
It will be the first time Barritt and Joseph have started a match together, although they formed makeshift midfields midway through Tests against New Zealand and Australia, in what is the 13th different 12-13 axis of Lancaster's reign.
Barritt has recovered from a calf problem to take his place at inside centre for his first appearance since finishing as the bloodied hero of last autumn's victory over Australia.
George Ford will start at fly-half in a midfield trio that is likely to be England's preferred choice for the World Cup opener against Fiji on September 18.
Sam Burgess provides centre cover from the bench and will win his second cap if he is brought on at Twickenham.
Ben Morgan will make his second appearance at No 8 since breaking a leg on club duty with Gloucester in January, while Geoff Parling returns to the second row in an effort to improve the line-out that malfunctioned in the 25-20 defeat to France in Paris.
Lancaster said: "We are excited about this weekend and playing at home and it is another opportunity for these 23 players as we finalise our preparations for the World Cup.
"It's great to see Brad back along with the guys that missed the Six Nations such as Ben Morgan, Joe Launchbury and Owen Farrell, who now have a Test match under their belts.
"It leaves us with lots of options both starting and from the bench.
"The players know that having made the 31 is not enough and we have seen in training how determined they are to be in that squad to play Fiji in the opening game of the tournament."
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Tom Youngs, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Courtney Lawes, 5 Geoff Parling, 6 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 8 Ben Morgan.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Sam Burgess.
You can watch England v Ireland live from Twickenham on Sky Sports 1 HD from 2pm
