Johnson hands out four England rugby debuts

England team manager Martin Johnson on Tuesday named four debutants - Delon Armitage, Ugo Monye, Riki Flutey and Nick Kennedy - in his starting side to face the Pacific Islands at Twickenham on Saturday.

World Cup-winning captain Johnson's first selection as England boss also included a possible fifth debutant in New Zealand-born hooker Dylan Hartley, who is on the bench.

London Irish's Armitage, born in Trinidad and who represented the France Under-16 team before his family returned to England, will start at full-back with Monye, who has been in fine form for Harlequins this season, out on the left wing.

Armitage and Monye were not in England's original squad but Monye got his chance following James Simpson-Daniel's ankle injury.

The 24-year-old Armitage was promoted after Mathew Tait (hamstring) and Nick Abendanon (toe) suffered fitness setbacks and Josh Lewsey was deemed to have lost form.

"There are lots of new caps and new faces around but there is also some experience," said former lock Johnson, now in his first management position in senior rugby after leading England to World Cup glory five years ago.

"We are happy with the guys we have picked. Monye and Armitage have been very impressive all season and in camp over the last 10 days," added Johnson, the only man to captain the British and Irish Lions on two tours.

"There are some new caps in there and it is exciting. These guys are bursting to get out on the field. It is an exciting back line.

"It is important to hit the ground running. It will be very fast and furious in the first 25 minutes. We need to control that as much as we can."

The Leicester legend dismissed talk of the match being just a 'development' fixture by saying: "I want to see us win. That is what we are there for."

Flutey, a former Junior All Black and New Zealand Maori, qualified to represent England on residency grounds in September and so has been selected by his adopted country at the first possible opportunity.

Jamie Noon will be alongside Flutey at outside centre, with the youthful combination of Danny Cipriani and Danny Care providing England's half-back duo.

England's back division appears to have plenty of pace but is short on experience - only Sackey and Noon have reached a caps total in double figures. Cipriani has started just one Test while Care only made his debut during England's tour of New Zealand in June.

Kennedy, a team-mate of Armitage's at London Irish, was a member of England's tour squad in New Zealand but did not feature in either of the Test defeats against the All Blacks.

He is now set to start alongside England captain Steve Borthwick in the second-row.

In the front row, Bath tight-head Matt Stevens has denied former captain Phil Vickery a starting spot while the back row sees the return of Harlequins' Nick Easter at No 8 with Leicester's Tom Croft selected at blindside flanker ahead of James Haskell.

The Pacific Islands, a team comprising players from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, are due to announce their side on Wednesday.

This match will be England's first of a November campaign which also sees the Tri-Nations trio of Australia, world champions South Africa and New Zealand taking on Johnson's men at Twickenham.

England team announced Tuesday to play the Pacific Islands in Saturday's rugby union international here at Twickenham (1430GMT):

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Delon Armitage (London Irish); Paul Sackey (Wasps), Jamie Noon (Newcastle), Riki Flutey (Wasps), Ugo Monye (Harlequins); Danny Cipriani (Wasps), Danny Care (Harlequins); Nick Easter (Harlequins), Tom Rees (Wasps), Tom Croft (Leicester); Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Steve Borthwick (Saracens, capt); Matt Stevens (Bath), Lee Mears (Bath), Andrew Sheridan (Sale)

Replacements: Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Phil Vickery (Wasps), Tom Palmer (Wasps), James Haskell (Wasps), Michael Lipman (Bath), Harry Ellis (Leicester), Toby Flood (Leicester)