Barkley Awaits Scan on Injured Hip As England Face Fly-half Crisis

England's difficulties over who should play fly-half against the Springboks on Friday approached crisis point today when Brian Ashton announced that Olly Barkley was on his way to hospital for tests on an injured hip. The England coach had just named his starting line-up for the match in Paris which showed four changes - one positional - from the side that flopped in its opening game against Lens.

To no one's surprise Jonny Wilkinson was not mentioned, but there was a space in the list of replacements which suggests Ashton has hopes that the hero of 2003 might be available. Either that or he is becoming increasingly desperate. If Barkley joins the list of injured there is no other No10 left in the squad and the job would presumably go to Mike Catt, who played at No10 for England in the dim and distant past when he covered for every position behind the scrum bar scrum-half.

Not only that, but England would be horribly short of kickers with that difficult parcel being passed to the rugby league convert Andy Farrell, who is again on the bench in Ashton's original selection.

Increasingly the decision to leave Toby Flood at home seems to be a poor one, and might have to be reconsidered. He is seen as someone who could shake England's attacking play out of the dull pattern that has been seen not just in Lens last Saturday, but in the two warm-up defeats against France.

Otherwise the changes are much as expected. Mark Cueto, still a winger despite England's attempts to make him into a full-back, pays for being a fish out of water against the USA. He was brave under the high ball, but his tactical kicking let him down and his strength is in finishing off moves rather than ghosting into the line to create space for others outside him to do that job.

Jason Robinson is handed the No15 shirt, meaning that the 27-year-old Paul Sackey of Wasps moves to the wing for his fifth cap, which could be a blessing in disguise for England. Sackey is a force of nature, sometimes a risk in defence, but totally unpredictable when he's attacking. However, while one Wasps player comes in, two others are dropped and don't even make the replacements bench. Lawrence Dallaglio is replaced at No8 by Nick Easter and at blind-side flanker Joe Worsley moves aside for England's former captain Martin Corry.

The present captain, Phil Vickery is named in the starting line-up, but that depends on what happens later today when he appears before a disciplinary hearing after being cited for "kicking" the USA centre Paul Emerick during Saturday's match. The kick was actually a trip, but that's how the citation reads which is yet more bad news for England.

England team: Robinson, Lewsey, Noon, Catt, Sackey, Barkley, Perry, Easter, Rees, Corry, Kay, Shaw, Vickery (captain), Regan, Sheridan. Replacements: Chuter, Stevens, Borthwick, Moody, Gomarsall, Farrell.