England opt for untried midfield to take on Australia in must-win Rugby World Cup clash

Stuart Lancaster is going to try something different against the Wallabies.

The England coach is going for an untried midfield combination of Owen Farrell, Brad Barritt and and Johnathan Joseph in the must-win match. Sam Burgess makes way to allow Joseph to slot in at outside centre while Barritt will switch back to ­12. Owen Farrell ­will retain his place at fly-half, according to the Telegraph. It was thought that Joseph would miss Saturday’s game after sustaining a pectoral injury in the hosts' opener against Fiji, but the dynamic back has made enough progress to work his way back into the starting XV. Other changes to the side who were beaten 28-25 by Wales at Twickenham last Saturday include Ben Morgan returning from a bruised knee to replace Billy Vunipola at No 8 while Joe Launchbury will make his first start of the tournament as a replace­ment for injured Courtney Lawes. It is understood that England are remaining hopeful that Ben Youngs, one of their stand-out performers against the Welsh, will recover from an ankle injury in time for the Aussies. He will be given until tomorrow to prove his fitness.