Jonny Wilkinson will make his first World Cup appearance on Saturday after he was named as the England fly-half for the Pool A match against Samoa in Nantes.

Wilkinson missed the first two matches with an ankle injury but has recovered to line up for his first Cup appearance and only his eighth for England since the 2003 final when his last-minute drop goal beat Australia.

Olly Barkley, who missed the 36-0 defeat to South Africa last Friday with a hip injury, will play at inside centre, with Mathew Tait making his first tournament start outside him.

Josh Lewsey moves to fullback for the injured Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto is restored to the wing while Andy Gomarsall starts at scrum-half. With Paul Sackey also switching to the right wing, no back will wear the same shirt as in the Springbok game.

There was also a recall for tough-tackling Joe Worsley in the back row, but at seven instead of his usual blindside position, while George Chuter was preferred to Mark Regan at hooker.

"We have our two best kickers back in the team, I expect them to manage the game well and create that sort of balance that we have been missing," Ashton said of the previously-untried Wilkinson-Barkley axis.

"Olly has been our form inside back and they might have played together against South Africa had they been fit. Jonny has been very professional with his preparation and his rehabilitation. Had he not been I doubt he would have made this game."

Ashton will be looking for a drastic improvement in creativity for the game after the feeble show against South Africa and said he had a meeting with all the "nines, 10s and 12s" to discuss just that.

"It brought a lot of clarity about how we are going to play against Samoa," he said.

"We dealt with everything from South Africa on Saturday and from then on we were looking ahead."

Cueto is restored to his preferred position on the wing, where he has scored 13 tries in 21 internationals, and with lively centre Dan Hipkiss on the bench there is a much more attacking look about the team.

Ashton dismissed suggestions that England might be physically underpowered in midfield against the big-hitting Samoans.

"The criticism of Tait goes back to Wales game nearly three years ago...he played two tests in South Africa in the summer and was not physically out his depth then," said the coach.

"He's a lot bigger and stronger than people think he is."

There was again no place in the squad for Lawrence Dallaglio but his Wasps club mate Worsley has been given another opportunity.

"Joe has shown in games for his club he can be a big, big tackler in big games and if ever there was a game for him to stand up in then this is it."

England - 15-Josh Lewsey, 14-Paul Sackey, 13-Mathew Tait, 12-Olly Barkley, 11-Mark Cueto, 10-Jonny Wilkinson, 9-Andy Gomarsall, 8-Nick Easter, 7-Joe Worsley, 6-Martin Corry (captain), 5-Ben Kay, 4-Simon Shaw, 3-Matt Stevens, 2-George Chuter, 1-Andrew Sheridan.

Replacements: 16-Mark Regan, 17-Perry Freshwater, 18-Steve Borthwick, 19-Lewis Moody, 20-Peter Richards, 21-Andy Farrell, 22-Dan Hipkiss.

Eurosport / Reuters