Stuart Lancaster tears up the script ahead of England v Wales

The pressures on England at this World Cup can hardly be over-egged. Their status as hosts, as founding fathers of the game, and as the country with both the greatest playing resources and finances, guaranteed a level of scrutiny and sense of expectation that was only heightened by their placement in Pool A alongside Wales and Australia.

The screws tightened even more ahead of tomorrow’s encounter with Wales at Twickenham and it was all of their own making this time, with head coach Stuart Lancaster opting to radically redesign his backline for the biggest game of his three-and-a-bit year tenure.

Yesterday’s team announcement simply confirmed what had become public knowledge on Wednesday. In came Owen Farrell for George Ford at 10, Sam Burgess at 12, with Brad Barritt switching to 13 in Jonathan Joseph’s absence.