Warriors skipper Pat Sanderson will be one of only five players to start England’s autumn internationals when he lines up at Twickenham against South Africa on Saturday.
The open-side flanker joins captain Martin Corry, prop Julian White, wing Ben Cohen and centre Jamie Noon in the select club as the team looks for only its second win in 10 matches.
Former Bromsgrove School pupil Andy Goode, the Leicester fly-half, replaces the injured Charlie Hodgson at 10. Despite England’s poor run, victory would be the eighth in succession against the Springboks.
“Team dynamics are a funny thing, but I think one thing that always pulls a team close together is adversity, going through tough times and coming out it the right way,” Pat said on the eve of the match.
“We’re one step closer to doing that and, hopefully, we’ll be an even tighter squad and a better set of friends than we were before. Experiencing and overcoming the problems and the issues will make us stronger and not weaker as a squad, and I think that’s very important.”
Meanwhile, Tevita Taumoepeau and Aleki Lutui have both been selected to play for the Pacific Islanders’ against Ireland in the last game at Lansdowne Road the same day.
However, Worcester centre Miguel Avramovich has not been selected for Argentina’s clash with France at Stade de France, tomorrow, and prop Chris Horsman is also an absentee from the Wales squad for the meeting with New Zealand in Cardiff.