Mike Catt will captain an England side which includes Lawrence Dallaglio at No 8 and which shows 11 changes from the team that crushed Wales for the World Cup warm-up match against France at Twickenham on Saturday.

Only Shaun Perry, the scrum half, Andrew Sheridan, the prop, hooker Mark Regan and lock Simon Shaw are retained following last weekend's hugely impressive 62-5 victory.

Brian Ashton, the England head coach, will make final checks on several players before announcing his 30-man World Cup squad in Bath next Tuesday.

But World Cup hopes could well be over for Mike Tindall and Charlie Hodgson. Dan Ward-Smith's dream has already been dashed - he has been ruled out of the tournament today because of injury.

Dallaglio will make a first England start for more than three years, packing down in the back-row alongside his Wasps colleague James Haskell and Leicester's Lewis Moody.

Bath's Olly Barkley is handed the No 10 shirt ahead of Hodgson, who has not played since suffering a serious knee injury while on England duty against South Africa last November.

Tindall, meanwhile, continues his battle to recover from a broken leg sustained on club duty in April, but the appearance at outside centre of Jamie Noon of Newcastle suggests Tindall might have run out of time.

Elsewhere, there is an opportunity for Nick Abendanon, the Bath prospect, to press his claims for one of the back-three positions. He will start at No 15, with the wing positions filled by Wasps pair Paul Sackey and Josh Lewsey.

With the clock ticking down on Ashton's World Cup squad unveiling, the French clash presents a huge opportunity for the likes of Haskell, Barkley and Ben Kay, the Leicester lock, to remind the coach of their qualities.

A powerful England bench includes Jonny Wilkinson, Phil Vickery, Martin Corry and Joe Worsley, while there is also an opportunity for Danny Cipriani, the talented Wasps youngster.

The uncapped Cipriani provides options at full back and fly half, and it could transpire that he faces a head-to-head battle with Abendanon to make the flight to France. Flanker Tom Rees is not included as he continues to recover from a knee problem.

Ashton has indicated that some players could go to the World Cup without featuring in any of England's warm-up fixtures, but it would appear the England manager is closing in on his final 30.