Great Britain's four won one of four gold medals in Linz

The move is part of a long-term plan by coach Jurgen Grobler to make the four faster in the run-up to the Olympics.

Andy Hodge, stroke of the four, praised the tactic but insists the new eight will face tough opposition.

"I'm not expecting to win. There are countries who've been doing it for a long time," he told BBC Sport.

"I'm really pleased that Jurgen's given us an opportunity to do something different from the four.

"This is a really good opportunity to take our rowing to a different level and explore things in a different way."

I love a change, I love something new and I think we'll be able to take something really valuable from it Andy Hodge

Hodge, along with Steve Williams, Peter Reed, Alex Partridge won gold in the World Cup opener in Linz three weeks ago.

Colin Smith and Matthew Langridge, who also took gold there in a pair, also join the eight along with squad members Marcus Bateman and James Orme and cox Phelan Hill.

The move allows the current first-choice eight, which finished fifth in Linz, to operate independently and Hodge believes intra-squad competition could prove tough.

"On paper we should probably be able to beat them but the eight is their boat and they're going to go out to protect that," he continued.

606: COMMENT It will be difficult to gauge whether this experiment has been successful as there is another year before Beijing Martin Gough, BBC Sport Have your say on 606

"To me that's just great because I love a change, I love something new and I think we'll be able to take something really valuable from it."

Great Britain's world champion women's quadruple scull, stroked by Katherine Grainger, will aim to repeat their easy victory in Linz to move further ahead in the overall World Cup standings.

Double scullers Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham are the other crew looking for a second World Cup win of the season.

Meanwhile, sculler Alan Campbell, second in Linz, faces an extra challenge in the form of Kiwi world record holder and training partner Mahe Drysdale, who missed the last event.