BAGSHOT, England (Reuters) - Lee Dickson, Ben Morgan and Geoff Parling will make their first starts against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday and Owen Farrell switches to flyhalf in place of injured Charlie Hodgson as Stuart Lancaster's England revolution continued on Thursday.
A finger problem for Hodgson gave the England caretaker coach a somewhat fortuitous opportunity to pair inexperienced but exciting duo Dickson and Farrell at halfback while also trying a potentially well-balanced centre partnership of Brad Barritt and Manu Tuilagi.
Flyhalf Toby Flood and lock Courtney Lawes, yet to feature in the tournament because of injury, were named among the replacements.
Scrumhalf Dickson injected real fizz from the bench in the laboured but important opening away wins over Scotland and Italy, Morgan provided rare forward momentum from number eight and Parling also brought stability to a wobbly lineout.
Ben Youngs, who has looked ponderous at times from scrumhalf, and number eight Phil Dowson drop to the bench but lock Tom Palmer misses out on the 22.
Hodgson, who scored England's two tries in their first two games following chargedowns, had been expected to retain his place, despite the availability of Flood.
However, his injury gave Lancaster an easy way to plump for the fresh-looking lineup many fans would like to see in the wake of some flat attacking efforts so far.
Farrell, who often interchanges with Hodgson at flyhalf for their club Saracens, should slot in comfortably in the playmaker role and will retain the kicking duties, which he has carried out well in his first two internationals.
Tough-tackling Barritt had shown little in attack but retained his slot on the back of his superb defence.
While hardly a slippery ball-playing 12, his move to inside centre allows the return of Samoa-born Tuilagi, the one player in the England squad in recent years who has shown a consistent ability to break the line.
Tuilagi makes his first appearance since the World Cup quarter-final defeat by France.
"We are looking forward to seeing how Brad and Manu gel together in the centre," said Lancaster.
"Charlie cut his finger in training earlier in the week and needed stitches but it swelled up and there is a sprain there.
"We assessed him this morning and he cannot grip fully. Owen has trained throughout and knows our patterns and plays so we are fully confident in his ability to run the game from 10, added the coach, who said Flood's lack of training time with squad was a factor in not putting in last season's first-choice flyhalf straight in for Hodgson.
"It's been a good start with two wins but we've got real competition for places and Lee, Ben and Geoff deserve an opportunity to start this game," he said.
"It means that Phil and Ben will provide a different role from the bench and it's great to have Courtney and Toby, who can also give us options in what I am sure will be a full-on encounter.
Wales, who beat Ireland and Scotland in their first two matches, are seeking their 20th triple crown but the first to be secured at Twickenham, where they have won only once in 13 games spanning 22 years.
They go into the match as bookmakers' favourites and with almost 500 caps in their starting lineup compared to the 182 for England.
Lancaster, however, said he was unconcerned.
"We are trying to find players for the long term so we need to expose them to these sort of environments and be true to our beliefs," he said.
"We're going to enjoy the occasion but we have an inner confidence and in a year's time we can select a young side that have chalked up 100 odd caps."
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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