England bank on youth

England wing Jack Nowell may have been refused entrance to an 18 certificate film on Wednesday night, but Stuart Lancaster insists he is part of an untested trio that is ready for the Stade de France.

Nowell and outside centre Luther Burrell will win their first caps in tomorrow’s Six Nations clash with France, while Jonny May makes his second international appearance on the left wing. It is a bold selection that Lancaster has based on “consistency, form and potential” and the head coach is convinced the three will enter a pivotal Championship opener in Paris unburdened by fear.

The three-quarter line contains only nine caps, eight of which belong to Billy Twelvetrees, and England’s willingness to give youth its head was evident at a cinema local to the squad’s Surrey training base 12 hours before the team was announced.

Arriving to watch The Wolf of Wall Street with Tom Johnson and Henry Thomas, 20-year-old Nowell’s lack of ID meant he was turned away.

“I was really excited to go. Tom and Henry two got their tickets and I paid for mine last, but the woman said ‘sorry, I need to see your ID’,” Nowell said.

“I checked to see the film was an 18 and not a 15 just in case! I didn’t have any ID on me so I had to go back to the hotel to get some. We had to watch the showing an hour later... with my passport in my back pocket!”

Lancaster highlights the dwindling number of games – 20 – left until the 2015 World Cup to explain his willingness to pick Nowell, Burrell and May against the favourites.

“The upside is that they have no fear. There is no fear factor that sometimes can build during players’ careers in international rugby,” he said.

“Ultimately I’ve gone with my gut instinct which was probably formulated after watching training on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week. I had a bit of time to think about it over the weekend. Form, potential and consistency of performance in the Premiership and Europe have been factors.”

Lancaster also confirmed that Alex Goode, who has been included on the bench, is the preferred choice to supply fly-half cover to Owen Farrell, with Twelvetrees also an option.