Wilkinson and Barkley Return to Avert Disaster

England have no option but to change tack in order to avoid calamity at this World Cup, so the seven alterations to their starting XV to face Samoa on Saturday will be no surprise to those who endured the 36-0 drubbing against South Africa last Friday night. A fit Jonny Wilkinson will start his first match of the tournament, a fixture with do-or-die ramifications similar to his last World Cup outing, in Sydney four years ago.

It is no exaggeration to suggest defeat against Samoa in Nantes will prompt the biggest embarrassment in English rugby history, and the return of Wilkinson, who said yesterday that he had feared his World Cup was over as he lay nursing a twisted ankle two weeks ago, is a belated bonus for the head coach, Brian Ashton. Olly Barkley is also back, at inside center after filling in for Wilkinson at stand-off against the United States, following a hip injury. "I expect the two of them to manage the game well and create the sort of balance we have been missing," said Ashton.

Even a modest improvement will be greeted by supporters who have watched the poverty-stricken efforts against the USA and the Springboks with increasing disbelief. It might surprise some to find only two fresh faces - Joe Worsley and George Chuter - in a pack which made precious few inroads in open play against South Africa, but more significant is the absence of the senior citizens who were regarded as indispensable only a fortnight ago. Lawrence Dallaglio, Mark Regan and Mike Catt, all 35 or over, are conspicuous by their absence. There are some grumpy old men scattered around the team hotel.

Ashton, though, has seen enough. If Dallaglio and Catt - who turned 36 on Monday - were viewed as latter-day Dorian Grays last month, reality has now intruded. Should England fail to inject some pace into their game they will be sitting ducks for a hard-hitting Samoa team similarly desperate for a result after losing to Tonga on Sunday. Catt is out of the 22 entirely, with Dallaglio, whereas Regan and Andy Farrell drop to the bench. Interestingly, the squad's only specialist open side, Tom Rees, has also been ditched. Ashton has instead recalled Worsley at No7 with the specific task of tackling as many Samoans as possible in 80 minutes. "I appreciate he's not an out-and-out seven but if ever there was a game for him to stand up in then this is it," said the head coach.

Rees was only recently being hailed by England's forwards coach, John Wells, as a potential world-beater. The 23-year-old remains in that category, but Ashton is clearly hoping Worsley's abrupt demotion following the USA game will spur him to give the kind of game-turning display he has delivered for Wasps in major European finals. Similarly, Ashton is banking on Wilkinson and Barkley, as yet untried together, striking up an instant partnership in midfield.

Neither have the centers, Barkley and Mathew Tait, ever been paired together at this level. With Josh Lewsey back at full-back in place of the injured Jason Robinson less than six months after Ashton said he would never pick him at No15 again, this England team is about as settled as Amy Wine house's private life.

That said, there is a less one-dimensional feel to the selection, with Barkley and Tait both capable of creating holes in defenses and Mark Cueto restored to the wing, where he has played most of his best rugby, after a tough time at full-back. The final starting change sees Shaun Perry replaced at scrum-half by Andy Gomarsall, a direct consequence of Perry's off-key effort against the Springboks.

Ashton called a weekend meeting at which it was agreed that individuals had to be, in the words of his stand-in captain, Martin Corry, "more accountable for what we're doing in attack". It was little wonder Corry looked slightly weary yesterday as he tried to articulate yet again how important it is for England to put the past behind them. "The most important thing is to make sure the South Africa result is not a hammer blow for us," he said. "It has to be a motivating factor, not a demoralizing one."

Inevitably, though, it was Wilkinson who attracted the biggest audience in the Molière Room at the team hotel in Versailles. Not surprisingly, he is eager to make up for lost time, describing the past fortnight as "frustrating" and insisting his swift recovery was down to a more relaxed mental outlook.

"When it [the ankle injury] happened, because of the pain and the noises I heard, I more or less prepared myself for what I thought was going to be a fairly inevitable scan result and my World Cup being over," he said. "Hopefully I can have an input on Saturday."