Stuart Lancaster insists he has not panicked by dropping fly-half George Ford in favour of Owen Farrell for England’s pivotal World Cup clash with Wales on Saturday.
Ford was one of three players left out from England's win over Fiji with the injured duo of Jonathan Joseph and Ben Morgan also making way for Sam Burgess and Billy Vunipola.
Lancaster admitted the chest injury suffered by Joseph had repercussions for the rest of the midfield and forced the coaching staff to rethink how they wanted to attack Wales.
"There is definitely no panic," Lancaster said. "Once we heard about JJ's injury, there were lots of different options and combinations we could have gone down.
"We have gone down this route because we believe the team that is picked will give us the best chance to get a foothold in the game against a very strong defensive team.
"I am confident in Owen's ability to come in and play well. His contribution in the Fiji performance - two tries - was excellent. He is obviously a high-quality player - a British and Irish Lion.
"George will play a different role from the bench this week. He was obviously disappointed but he has been great in training. We are a very fortunate to have two such high-quality players."
With Farrell selected at fly-half, Burgess at inside centre and Brad Barritt shifting to outside centre, Lancaster has put out the most physically-imposing midfield at his disposal.
The England head coach feels the best way to attack the Welsh defensive system - which is orchestrated by former rugby league star Shaun Edwards - is to go through it rather than around and he picked a combination he feels can do just that.
"Wales are a very difficult team to play against home or away," Lancaster admitted. "They have got a very specific defensive system.
"They are very hard to break down and there is very little space on the wings because of the width they hold in defence. A lot of our strengths in playing against them have been playing through the line rather than playing around it."
The decision to drop Ford was a surprise to many given his strong performances since he wrestled the starting role from Farrell during the November 2014 internationals.
Ford helped England score a record-breaking 18 tries in five matches during the RBS 6 Nations, which Farrell missed through injury, but Lancaster said the Saracens stand-off has been closing the gap on his Bath counterpart ever since.
"Owen obviously wasn't available in the 6 Nations but George was fantastic," Lancaster said.
"Since then we have had the Premiership final where Owen was man of the match. He has been pushing hard in training consistently.
"I thought he played very well in the first warm-up game against France. His contribution off the bench against Ireland was good - defensively and also with the energy he brought to the team. And again I thought he contributed well last week against Fiji.
"It is the right time to start him in a big game like this."
The other big call Lancaster made was his decision to start rugby-league convert Burgess opposite British and Irish Lions stalwart Jamie Roberts at No 12.
Keeping Roberts quiet is a mammoth challenge to set the 26-year-old Bath star in just his fourth cap - and first start - for England but Lancaster is confident he has seen enough in training to know Burgess is ready.
Lancaster said: "Sam comes in - it is a big game for him coming in at 12. He has more than proven in the last three months he is capable of playing at this level.
"He has not got the international rugby union experience but he has got big-game experience and it is going to be a big game.
"I have got to be confident that he can defend well. I know he can. I have got to be confident he can deal with the game with the big-game experience. I am certain of that. And I have got to be confident that he can carry the ball and get across the gain-line and give us good front football. I am certain he can do that as well."