Armitage set for England debut as Johnson opts for speed

Martin Johnson will unveil one of the quickest and least experienced England back lines seen at Twickenham for years when he names his side today for the opening autumn series match against the Pacific Islands. The distinctly rapid quintet of Delon Armitage, Ugo Monye, Riki Flutey, Danny Cipriani and Danny Care may have only five caps between them but, along with Paul Sackey on the right wing, England have never had such serious pace to burn.

Johnson has little choice but to be bold after losing two more players to injury yesterday. Neither Mathew Tait nor Luke Narraway has recovered sufficiently from hamstring trouble, with London Irish's David Paice also summoned last night as hooking cover for George Chuter who is still troubled by a knee problem. With Nick Abendanon and James Simpson-Daniel, both potential starters in the back three, already hors de combat, the England manager's first selection has not been noticeably straightforward.

Tait's absence means that the 24-year-old Armitage can expect to win his first cap on Saturday, probably at full-back although he has also played outside-centre for London Irish. The other option open to Johnson would be to field either Danny Cipriani or Josh Lewsey at No15 with Toby Flood slotting in at fly-half but that would cause even more disruption to an already new-look set of three-quarters.

Lewsey is back at the team hotel in Bagshot but as he was sent home to Wasps last week it would be perverse suddenly to reinstate him in the starting XV. If the uncapped Flutey, a former NZ Maori representative qualified by residency, is going to start at inside-centre, it would seem natural that his club-mate Cipriani should start at 10 and Armitage at full-back with the hard-tackling Jamie Noon offering defensive ballast against a Pacific Island back division with almost as much collective speed and considerably more power.

At Irish they appear in little doubt that the Trinidad-born Armitage - he enjoyed a nomadic childhood which also included a spell in the south of France where he represented France Under-16s - will get the nod and reckon England need have few fears about the newcomer rising to the big occasion.

"People think Delon is new to the scene but his elevation hasn't just happened," said Toby Booth, the Exiles' head coach who believes Armitage has become a more mature player since the birth of his young son.

Booth now reckons "the jigsaw is complete" as far as Armitage is concerned, although he warns: "He's a fierce competitor who thinks the world's against him most of the time." In Johnson's no-nonsense book that is not the worst trait in the world and the support of Brian Smith, England's new attack coach who used to be in charge at Irish, is also assured.

England (probable): Armitage; Sackey, Noon, Flutey, Monye; Cipriani, Care; Sheridan, Mears, Stevens, Borthwick (capt), Palmer, Croft, Rees, Easter.