ENGLAND v ARGENTINA
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
Date: Saturday, 6 June Kick-off: 1600 BST

Banahan will give England a physical presence out wide

England have named three debutants in their team to take on Argentina in the first Test at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Bath wing Matt Banahan, Newcastle prop David Wilson and France-bound back Tom May are in a side showing five changes to the one that lost to the Barbarians.

Mark Cueto replaces Ben Foden on the right wing while open-side Steffon Armitage wins his second cap.

Leicester centre Dan Hipkiss is paired with May in midfield and James Haskell comes in on the blind-side flank.

Flankers Chris Robshaw and Lewis Moody as well as utility player Foden and inside centre Jordan Turner-Hall drop out of the squad completely while outside centre Jamie Noon has been ruled out with a calf injury.

Steffon Armitage, May and Haskell are all promoted from the bench following the 33-26 defeat against the Barbarians at Twickenham last weekend.

There is no place in the starting XV for Brive hooker Steve Thompson, who was hoping to win his first cap since the 2006 Six Nations after a neck injury in 2007 threatened to end his career.

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The former Northampton forward, who has made 47 Test appearances, joins fellow World Cup winner Ben Kay among the replacements.

Leicester prop Julian White will win his 50th cap should he come off a bench which also includes Sale centre Mathew Tait and uncapped Leicester back Sam Vesty.

Full-back Delon Armitage, fly-half Andy Goode and scrum-half Danny Care retain their places after recovering from minor knocks.

Juan Martin Hernandez and Juan Manuel Leguizamon are available to play for Argentina after their Stade Francais club lost out in the semi-finals of the French Championship.

Former Sale skipper Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe will lead the side, which also includes Harlequins centre Gonzalo Tiesi.

Leicester prop Marcos Ayerza and London Irish scrum-half Alfredo Lalanne are named on the bench.

Saturday's match is England's first visit to Manchester since 1997 - the two sides travel to Salta in Argentina for the second Test on 13 June.

England: D Armitage (London Irish), Cueto (Sale), Hipkiss (Leicester), May (Newcastle), Banahan (Bath); Goode (Brive), Care (Harlequins); Payne (Wasps), Hartley (Northampton), Wilson (Newcastle), Borthwick (Saracens, capt), Deacon (Leicester), Haskell (Wasps), S Armitage (London Irish), Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: Thompson (Brive), White (Leicester), Kay (Leicester), Crane (Leicester), Hodgson (London Irish), Vesty (Leicester), Tait (Sale).

Argentina: H Agulla; G Camacho, M Avramovic, G Tiesi, F Aramburu; N Vergallo, J M Hernandez; J Lobbe (captain), J Leguizamon, A Galindo, P Albacete, M Carizza, J Orlandi, A Basualdo, R Roncero.

Replacements: E Guinazu, M Ayerza, E Lozada, A Abadie, A Lalanne, S Fernandez, L Amorosino.

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