Thursday 24 September 2015 11:51, UK
England are set to start Owen Farrell and Sam Burgess in their pivotal World Cup clash with Wales at Twickenham, according to Sky sources.
Farrell will come into the team in place of George Ford at fly-half, while Burgess will start at inside centre, with Brad Barritt moving to outside centre to replace the injured Jonathan Joseph.
Bath star Joseph sustained a chest injury in England's win over Fiji and we understand he is a major doubt to be fit for the game against Australia on October 3.
The inclusion of Farrell and Burgess alongside Barritt gives England an ultra-physical midfield for what is sure to be a highly-charged game against Warren Gatland's Wales.
Farrell lost his place to Ford during the November 2014 internationals following some erratic displays for England but Stuart Lancaster was forced to reconsider how he will deploy his backline following Joseph's injury.
Ford started the opening game win against Fiji on Friday night, kicking eight points in the 35-11 win but was replaced by Farrell with 18 minutes to play, with England going on to score 17 more points to wrap up a bonus point.
Farrell's father Andy is the England's backs coach and he hinted on Tuesday that his son was in strong contention to start against Wales in addition to former rugby league star Sam Burgess.
"Owen features in the centre conversation. He's been training there for 12 weeks," Farrell said.
"Sam is not necessarily next as an impact sub. It depends whether you want to make the impact or you want to go that way from the start and make that impact from the start.
"He's quite comfortable starting or coming off the bench and doing what's best for the team.
"There are all sorts of different permutations. We've got a couple of ideas in the back of our mind but we'll keep that until we need to."
The demotion of Ford signals a philosophical shift from Lancaster to a more physical approach.
England have played with more width since Ford became the starter and he helped the team score a record-breaking 18 tries in five matches during the RBS 6 Nations.
In the 11 starts Ford has made since taking over from Farrell, England have been outscored in tries in only one game - a 19-9 defeat to Ireland in Dublin.
