England rated, man-by-man

15) Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)

The 27-year-old full-back, who wins his 23rd cap today, was England Under-21s scrum-half in 2005 and 2006, winning the Grand Slam in the latter year. He switched to full-back in 2007, joining Northampton the following year. He was an ever-present in the England side which won last year’s championship.

14) Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)

England’s most formidable attacking weapon with 15 tries from 18 caps, the winger touched down four times against Italy last year to equal the championship record for a single match. He has spent five seasons with Northampton since converting from rugby league, but has signed a contract with Saracens for next season.

13) Brad Barritt (Saracens)

The uncapped centre from South Africa qualifies for England through his grandparents. He played for his native country’s under-21s and Emerging Springboks, but moved to Saracens in 2008. He played in England’s non-cap match against New Zealand Maori in 2010, and won the English Premiership title with his club last year.

12) Owen Farrell (Saracens)

Barritt’s club-mate and fellow-centre is also uncapped. His father Andy is England assistant coach; the pair were team-mates at Saracens for a season but never played together. He made his first-team debut for Saracens just a month after his 17th birthday, and won the Premiership title with the club last season, scoring 17 of their 22 points in the final.

11) David Strettle (Saracens)

The elusive winger made his reputation as a prolific try-scorer on the sevens circuit in 2006 and went on to make his full debut the following year. Injuries have restricted his appearances, and at 29 he still has only seven caps to his name.

10) Charlie Hodgson (Saracens)

At 31, and with 36 caps to his name, the stand-off has a critical role to play in coaxing England’s debutants through the game. He was a member of the team which won the 2003 Grand Slam but did not go to that year’s Rugby World Cup. Today will be his first Six Nations start in six years.

9) Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

The 22-year-old scrum-half was won 17 caps, and despite his relative youth has a great deal of experience in senior rugby, having won the English Premiership as a 17-year-old. His duel with Chris Cusiter could be one of the most compelling head-to-head contests of the game.

1) Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)

Born in New York City, the 23-year-old loosehead prop has won ten caps, having made his debut in last year’s championship. He was more noted as a tighthead at age-group level, having played there for England Under-20s when they won the Grand Slam in 2008.

2) Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)

Born in Rotorua, New Zealand, the hooker moved to England in 2003 and was briefly with Worcester before joining Northampton. Now 26, he has won 34 caps, having made his debut in 2008. He had earlier won the Under-21s Grand Slam in 2006, playing three games at prop and the other two at hooker.

3) Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)

The 25-year-old tighthead prop, who attended the same school in Market Harborough as former England captain and manager Martin Johnson, has won 23 caps. Today will be his tenth successive Six Nations start.

4) Mouritz Botha (Saracens)

Born in Vryheid, South Africa, the 30-year-old qualifies for England on residency, having moved from Cape Town to Bedford in 2004. He has been capped only once to date – in the World Cup warm-up against Wales last August. He did not play professional rugby in South Africa, and was something of a late developer after moving to England, having played for Bedford Athletic for three seasons before joining Bedford Blues for the 2006-07 season. Botha spent three seasons with the Blues in National Division One then moved to Saracens in the summer of 2009.

5) Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)

The former Boroughmuir player represented Scotland at under-19 and under-21 level, and competed in the latter age group in the U21 Six Nations in 2000. Now 33, he has also won 33 caps, having made his debut in 2001 when a Leeds Tykes player. He remains the most recent player from below Premiership level to be capped by England, Leeds having been in the second flight at the time. Palmer spent eight seasons with the Tykes before joining London Wasps, then moved on again to Stade Francais in the summer of 2009.

6) Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)

The 26-year-old blindside flanker has won 31 caps, having made his debut against France in the 2008 championship. He has not started a Six Nations match since 2009, the same year that he played in all three Tests on the Lions tour of South Africa. He scored two tries in the first of those Tests, a defeat in Durban. A member of the England Under-21 team which won the Grand Slam in 2006, he started every game of that campaign in the second row.

8) Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)

The 30-year-old No 8 is making his Test debut today, two years after being called into the England squad for the tour to Australia and New Zealand. He came off the bench in his team’s 15-9 win over Australian Barbarians. He made his senior debut for Newcastle as far back as the 2001-02 season, and stayed with the falcons until the summer of 2009, when he moved to his present club.

7) Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)

Having won just one cap to date, the openside flanker today becomes his country’s most inexperienced captain since Nigel Melville was England skipper on his debut back in 1984. That one cap came on the tour to Argentina in the summer of 2009. Another member of Stuart Lancaster’s squad to have been part of the England team which won the Under-21 Grand Slam in 2006, Robshaw has played nearly 100 games in the Premiership for Harlequins.

SUBS

16) Rob Webber (London Wasps) age 26, uncapped.

17) Matt Stevens (Saracens) age 29, 39 caps.

18) Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers) age 28, uncapped.

19) Ben Morgan (Scarlets) age 23, uncapped.

20) Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints) age 27, uncapped.

21) Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins) age 24, uncapped.

22) Mike Brown (Harlequins) age 26, three caps.