| Noon is one of six changes, five of them in the backs that have been implemented by stand-in manager Rob Andrew. There are starts for former Falcons Toby Flood and Mat Tait as well as a debut for Harlequins scrum half Danny Care.
Andrew commenting on the selection of Noon said: "The selection of Noon at inside centre is about combinations and the physical threat that is posed by New Zealand in that area of the field and what we need to do to challenge them," he explained.
"There were lots of areas where we thought we matched them; we felt the midfield was probably the area where the game was won and lost.
"International rugby is pretty straightforward in many ways. You have to defend well at international level.
"Frankly we didn't do that last weekend. We need to get a balance in there to defend better than we did last week."
England:
15. Mathew Tait (Newcastle)
14. Topsy Ojo (London Irish)
13. Mike Tindall (Gloucester)
12. Jamie Noon (Newcastle)
11. Tom Varndell (Leicester)
10. Toby Flood (Leicester)
9. Danny Care (Harlequins)
1. Tim Payne (Wasps)
2. Lee Mears (Bath)
3. Matt Stevens (Bath)
4. Tom Palmer (Wasps)
5. Steve Borthwick (Bath, captain)
6. James Haskell (Wasps)
7. Tom Rees (Wasps)
8. Luke Narraway (Gloucester)
Replacements:
Jason Hobson (Bristol)
David Paice (London Irish)
Ben Kay (Leicester)
Joe Worsley (Wasps)
Peter Richards (London Irish)
Olly Barkley (Bath)
David Strettle (Harlequins)
|
