Rugby: Manu Tuilagi is man of the future for England, says Jonny Wilkinson

Wilkinson had some idea what to expect when he linked up with Tuilagi in the England camp, having played against his four elder brothers.

Freddie, Henry, Alesana and Anitelea are all fearsome, hard-hitting internationals in the best traditions of Samoan rugby.

But what Wilkinson discovered was, in his view, the best of the lot - a player who marries that bone-crunching Samoan power with the dazzling match-winning qualities of England legend Jason Robinson and current New Zealand star, Sonny-Bill Williams.

"Manu has that aura about him, that Jason Robinson uniqueness about his ability to impact on a game," said Wilkinson, who returns to the England starting line-up at fly-half. "When someone has that ability as an individual to change a game you know he has to be special. I saw it a bit in Toulon with Sonny-Bill Williams. He has the power, the speed and he reads the game incredibly well. His focus is very sharp, he doesn't drop off."

Wilkinson always chooses his words carefully, often shying away from making bold statements, so for him to make such a claim carries a great deal of weight.

England manager Martin Johnson has now selected 12 different centres for his 31 Tests in charge, but none of them have carried that same high-octane potential as Tuilagi.

His story is a remarkable one. This time last year he was fighting deportation from the country he will represent at Twickenham on Saturday. It emerged in June 2010 that Tuilagi - by this stage an England age-group international - had arrived as a 13-year-old schoolboy on a six-month holiday visa. But the Home Office eventually gave Tuilagi special dispensation to stay. And that decision was the launchpad for an extraordinary 12 months.

Tuilagi was named Aviva Premiership young player of the year for his debut-season exploits with Leicester, although the season ended on a sour note when he was banned for punching Chris Ashton.

He will start in a strong but experimental England team that features only six of those who began the last match against Ireland. Lewis Moody, who missed England's title-winning Six Nations campaign with knee ligament damage, is back to captain the team, while Wilkinson, centre Riki Flutey and full-back Delon Armitage all make their first starts since the 2010 Six Nations.Matt Stevens, the Saracens prop, will win his first cap since November 2008 after serving a two-year ban for cocaine use.

Saracens lock Mouritz Botha and Gloucester wing Charlie Sharples are primed to make their Test debuts off the bench.

Despite living with his elder brother Alesana, who is currently with the Samoan World Cup squad, Tuilagi had no qualms about choosing to play his international rugby with England. "No it wasn't a difficult decision. I grew up here and all my rugby was here. I played England Under-16s, 18s and 20s and if you play for those age groups then obviously you want to get to the top," said Tuilagi.

England team: D Armitage (London Irish); M Banahan (Bath), M Tuilagi (Leicester), R Flutey (Wasps), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); J Wilkinson (Toulon), D Care (Harlequins); A Corbisiero (London Irish), D Hartley (Northampton), M Stevens (Saracens), S Shaw (Unattached), Palmer (Stade Francais), T Croft (Leicester), L Moody (Bath, capt), J Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams).

Subs: L Mears (Bath), D Wilson (Bath), M Botha (Saracens), T Wood (Northampton), R Wigglesworth (Saracens), C Hodgson (Saracens), C Sharples (Gloucester).