Rugby:Manu Tuilagi will make his England debut against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday. The 20 year old Samoan born centre links up with Riki Flutey in the centre in a team captained by the returning Bath flanker Lewis Moody. The latter missed the entire Six Nations Championship with a Knee injury.
Tuilagi – five brothers played for Samoa – impressed with the Leicester Tigers last season and also during a trial match undertaken by the extended England squad. He forms a cosmopolitan midfield partnership with the New Zealand born Flutey.
"I'm really proud to be winning my first cap," said Tuilagi, who was named Premiership Young Player of the Year. "There is a lot of competition for places and I just want to take this chance and do the best I can for the team. The boys have worked hard during the camp but now we have to perform against Wales."
Prop Matt Stevens also starts as he wins his first cap since 2008 following his return from a two-year doping ban. There are two uncapped players among the replacements, 21-year-old Gloucester winger Charlie Sharples and Saracens lock, the South African born Mouritz Botha.
Fullback Delon Armitage, suspended for eight weeks in January for abusing a doping official and banned again for three weeks for punching, was also given a chance to redeem himself with a start at fullback. With Ben Youngs injured, Danny Care starts at scrumhalf alongside Jonny Wilkinson.
England: D Armitage: M Banahan, M Tuilagi, R Flutey, M Cueto; J Wilkinson, D Care; A Corbisiero, D Hartley, M Stevens; S Shaw, T Palmer; T Croft, L Moody (capt), J Haskell. Replacements: L Mears, D Wilson, M Botha, T Wood, R Wigglesworth, C Hodgson, C Sharples.
