Eddie Jones has switched a third of the starting XV that lost to Argentina last week as he looks to earn a job-salvaging win against his former team Japan.
There are new faces at eight and nine as Sam Simmonds and Jack van Poortvliet replace Billy Vunipola and Ben Youngs respectively.
Alex Coles is straight out after coming in for his debut last week, replaced by fellow Saint Dave Ribbans, while Jonny May completes his rapid recovery from a dislocated elbow – just over three weeks – to replace try-scorer from last week Joe Cokanasiga.
And finally, Jones has put an end to the long-awaited Smith-Farrell-Tuilagi combination after just one game, with the latter being replaced by Guy Porter.
Jones said: “We’ve made a few changes to the side as we play these four games in November – in particular with Manu, we are balancing his workload.
“Japan are a very good and intriguing side. They play a unique type of rugby based on continuity and team cohesion and we’ll have to be at our best against them at Twickenham on Saturday.”
England last played against Japan in 2018 in a game widely seen as a graveyard for several careers, as they produced a tame first half performance and trailed before closing out an unconvincing 30-15 victory.
With Japan still further improved they will need to produce a better performance than they found last time week against Argentina to clinch victory, and defeat will mean they have failed to beat either of their biggest rivals for qualification from their Rugby World Cup 2023 pool.
As expected, Japan have selected a high-class team, with World Cup heroes Kotaro Matsushima and Michael Leitch both named in a strong side.
England: Steward, Nowell, Porter, Farrell ©, May, Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Sinckler, Ribbans, Hill, Itoje, Curry, Simmonds
Replacements: George, M Vunipola, Heyes, Coles, B Vunipola, Youngs, Slade, Tuilagi
Japan: Yamanaka, Matsushima, Riley, Nakamura, Sakate ©, Gu, Dearns, Cornelsen, Leitch, Himeno, Tatafu
Replacements: Norikoshi, Millar, Kizu, Van der Walt, Labuschagne, Saito, Lee, Fifita
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