Matt Kvesic and Christian Wade will both make their England debuts on Saturday after they were named in Stuart Lancaster’s side to face Argentina in Salta.
Also in line to make their debuts are Kyle Eastmond, Billy Vunipola and Henry Thomas, who are all named on the bench, while Dave Attwood, Freddie Burns and Rob Webber all make their first starts for their country.
Stuart Lancaster has used the opportunity of the Lions tour and resting some of his more experienced players to name a side that looks as exciting as anything that England have fielded in recent memory.
While the introduction of Wade will interest many, the area with possibly the most potential for excitement is in the midfield where the attacking threats of Freddie Burns, Billy Twelvetrees, and Jonathan Joseph will be unleashed.
Where in the recent past England have tended to look a little direct and jaded in midfield, with creativity and fleetness of foot never obviously high on the agenda. Such stagnation is unlikely with these three though, Freddie Burns is one of the most exciting and inventive fly halves in the Aviva Premiership, while Billy Twelvetrees has the all round game that England have been searching for in a centre since the days of Will Greenwood and Mike Catt.
Joseph meanwhile has been compared to a young Jeremy Guscott, high praise indeed, but such is his speed and eye for a gap from the outside centre channel that it seems justified, his move to Bath this summer will only heighten comparisons.
The sight of England’s wingers waving their arms and begging for the ball during the Six Nations is unlikely to be repeated given the distribution skills of those inside them, and with one of the most potent finishers on the circuit, Wade, making his debut, try scoring seems likely.
The back row also looks like an interesting area of development for England, Matt Kvesic coming in at openside gives it a more balanced feel than there has been for some time and if he and Tom Wood work well together then finding room for both of them and Chris Robshaw and Tom Croft in the autumn will be quite a challenge for Lancaster and his coaching team.
All in all it is an exciting looking team for England, one with an eye to the future certainly, but also one that is definitely built with pace and creativity at the top of the agenda, a refreshing outlook from a side that has been focused largely on power for too long.
England team to face Argentina:
15. Brown, 14. Wade, 13. Joseph, 12. Twelvetrees, 11. Strettle, 10. Burns, 9. Dickson; 1. Marler, 2. Webber, 3. Wilson, 4. Launchbury, 5. Attwood, 6. Wood (c), 7. Kvesic, 8. Morgan.
Replacements: 16. Paice, 17. Doran Jones, 18. Thomas, 19. Lawes, 20. Vunipola, 21. Wigglesworth, 22. Eastmond, 23. Foden.
