The return to the England front row of Steve Thompson has been well trailed but the re-appearance at Twickenham of a player who, in 2007, had been forced by injury into retirement still has the power to surprise. It is an indication of the twists and turns selection can take, and never more for England than this season.

Injuries have made an impact up to the eleventh hour, with Dylan Hartley’s damaged hamstring promoting Thompson’s elevation for his 49th cap and his seventh appearance against Australia. It is that experience, going back to his international debut in 2002, which has counted in Thompson’s favour for this is a starting XV with five players boasting thirty or more caps, and then there is the rest.

Whether Thompson lasts long beyond half-time at Twickenham must be in some doubt. He is there to make a dent on an improving Wallabies pack before Hartley, recovered sufficiently from his injury to be on the bench, brings greater mobility to the second half. But at 31 and after the enforced break, there could be a good few miles left on Thompson’s clock; after the surgery to his neck which convinced him he could resume playing, he has enjoyed his French leave in Brive and Martin Johnson’s coaching regime has rekindled his appetite for the international game.

Johnson, of course, was the captain of the side which won the World Cup (against Australia) in 2003 and knows Thompson’s virtues well. Just that cameo, of Thompson throwing the long lineout ball to Lewis Moody which led, inexorably it now appears, to the match-winning dropped goal by Jonny Wilkinson, is a reminder of the application of a player who was once considered not the most dependable of lineout operators.

How curious that four survivors of that squad, Johnson as manager, Wilkinson, Thompson and Moody are now reunited six years later in an England XV looking to start a new season on a high note. The three players have all come through an horrendous chapter of injuries and are playing well for their respective clubs; they will be core individuals in an otherwise inexperienced side.

But if this team is green in international terms, the players do not lack for ambition, and that is true of the bench too. Courtney Lawes has leaped swiftly from the under-20 ranks and Ayoola Erinle, the other uncapped replacement, must see this as an opportunity he never thought would come when he signed for Biarritz during the summer. But Mike Tindall is injured and Erinle offers similar height and strength in midfield, or on the wing.

Lawes will almost certainly see game time, unless England are struggling to stay in the contest. So, too, will Paul Hodgson who has made a case to be in the starting XV by his form at scrum half for London Irish; it is no surprise that Danny Care has been preferred because the management have made apparent over the last year how highly they regard the Harlequin, investing time, effort and occasional anger in him. The anger came after the stupid penalty Care conceded in the tight RBS Six Nations game with Ireland in February but, at 22, he is learning fast.

If the core of this side can shape the match in the way that England want, the young bucks around them may enjoy themselves. To do so they must overcome opponents traditionally well organised and growing in strength in the set-piece areas which England would once have considered their territory. There is no shortage of queries over both teams and Saturday will go some way towards answering them.