England won't play route one: Lancaster

Head coach Stuart Lancaster has denied England's selection for Saturday's World Cup Pool A showdown with Wales has been influenced by how the visitors will play at Twickenham.

Owen Farrell has been selected at fly-half, with George Ford demoted, Sam Burgess at inside centre and Billy Vunipola at number eight in place of Ben Morgan, who has a knee injury.

Brad Barritt has been shifted to outside centre after a chest injury for Jonathan Joseph and to accommodate Burgess, who has 112 minutes of Test experience, in Lancaster's 14th centre combination.

"There's definitely no panic," Lancaster said.

"I am backing our own players. I'm backing the players we've picked for the matchday 23."

Ford has lost his place as first-choice playmaker - a position held since last autumn - to make room for Farrell despite showing solid form during the warm-up matches and the 35-11 victory over Fiji.

"Owen wasn't available in the Six Nations. George was fantastic," Lancaster added.

"Since that Premiership final, where Owen was man of the match, he's been pushing hard.

"He contributed well last week against Fiji. He's pushed George hard and I think it's the right time to start him, in a big game like this."

The Farrell-Burgess-Barritt combination - the most muscular trio available to Lancaster - has been chosen in anticipation of the looming gainline war with Wales.

Burgess starts for the second time after his move from rugby league 10 months ago.

"It's a big game for him. He's more than capable of playing at this level," Lancaster added.

"He's not got the international rugby union experience, but he's got the big game experience."

There are also misgivings over Burgess' readiness to start a Test of this magnitude at inside centre, particularly given he will be facing British and Irish Lions veteran Jamie Roberts.

Burgess is still learning his trade in the new code and any lapses in defensive positioning are sure to be exposed by Roberts.

Those concerns are not shared by Lancaster.

He said: "My confidence has grown on the back of what he's done, the way he's come on and contributed off the bench.

"We scored two tries at the end of the game against Fiji - they were a lot to do with Owen Farrell and Sam Burgess.

"The first (warm-up) game against France they were excellent."

The elevation of Vunipola and Burgess means James Haskell fills the back-row vacancy on the bench and Alex Goode is picked to provide cover at full-back and fly-half.

Joseph and Morgan are expected to have just a one-match absence, Lancaster says.

Burgess is excited about a game he ranks alongside the NRL Grand Final, which was his final game in rugby league with South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The Bath player said: "This is up there. It's a big game, really excited to get out there and be a part of it. You don't have to do anything different.

"You've got to go out and perform to your best."

There has been a lot of conjecture over Burgess' involvement in the squad and now the starting XV for such a big game. Burgess is ignoring it.

"It's their opinion," Burgess said. "I believe in myself. I feel like I've got the respect of my team-mates and the staff here. That's what really counts to me.

"I don't want to make any bold predictions. I'll just let my performance do the talking on Saturday."

Burgess is eagerly anticipating his confrontation with Roberts.

"I've watched a lot of rugby over the last three months, probably more than ever," Burgess added.

"Jamie's a great player, very big and dominant. Looking forward to the battle."