Shontayne Hape starts in the England midfield © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Nick Easter | Martin Johnson | Xavier Rush | Philippe Saint-Andre

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Teams: Barbarians | England

England will be looking for a flying start to their summer schedule as they open the doors of Twickenham to the Barbarians on Sunday.

On their last trip to the home of English rugby in December the Baa Baas left with the scalp of the All Blacks and last May dented the already fragile confidence of Martin Johnson's England with a 33-26 triumph in Josh Lewsey and Martin Corry's farewell game.

A year on and the picture has not altered radically for the red rose brigade. Another middling Six Nations brought criticism about style and selection and Johnson will want his young side to show plenty of promise prior to a taxing tour of Australia and New Zealand that will see two Tests against the Wallabies and midweek games against the Australian Barbarians and New Zealand Maori.

Johnson has aimed squarely for a mix of youth and experience, with his uncapped players getting a worthwhile run out alongside several grizzled international campaigners. Leading the new faces is Bath's New Zealand-born centre Shontayne Hape, who wears No.12 alongside Gloucester's Mike Tindall. Hape has been unable to force his way into the Bath midfield in recent weeks since the resurgence of Olly Barkley, named on the bench here, but is rewarded with a chance to strut his stuff after missing out during the Six Nations due to illness.

It remains to be seen whether the finesse of Barkley can influence selection in an area of the field where grunt has been job number one for England but there are interesting recalls on the wing and at fly-half as David Strettle and Charlie Hodgson return to an England selection for the first time since the ill-fated tour of New Zealand in 2008.

Strettle joins Ben Foden and Mark Cueto in an exciting back-three while Hodgson will be eager to silence critics of his defence, even in this non-cap encounter. There are two new faces in the pack as Newcastle loose-head Jon Golding and Gloucester lock Dave Attwood pack down. Nick Easter takes the captain's armband as Lewis Moody is on duty with Leicester in Saturday's Guinness Premiership Final while Ben Youngs' involvement in the season showpiece grants uncapped Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson a chance on the England bench.

The Baa Baas have enjoyed a major resurgence in recent years and have prospered at Twickenham. They are coached by Toulon boss Philippe Saint-Andre and there is a distinctly French flavour to a side that will be led out by former All Black Xavier Rush, who got one over on Saint-Andre and Toulon last weekend as Cardiff Blues pilfered the European Challenge Cup in Marseille.

The black and white back-line features four members of the Toulouse squad that lifted the Heineken Cup last weekend, including the halfback pairing of Byron Kelleher and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde. Kelleher's bilingual skills helped to knit together the group in training this week, with Cedric Heymans and Florian Fritz completing the backs alongside Munster's Australian fullback Paul Warwick, England wing Paul Sackey and two-time All Black Casey Laulala.

Sackey will have plenty to prove against his former team-mates before joining Toulon and the same is true for Leicester duo Ben Kay and Julian White. Kay has been released by the Tigers but starts alongside South African Ross Skeate in the engine-room while White will no doubt offer a cordial welcome to Golding at tight-head. Biarritz hooker Benoit August and Stade Francais' veteran Pumas loose-head Rodrigo Roncero complete a strong front-row.

Rush skippers the team from No.8 and is joined in the loose trio by another All Black in blindside Rodney So'oialo and his Cardiff Blues team-mate Martyn Williams, scorer of a memorable solo try against the Springboks in his last Baa Baas appearance.

A Barbarians game it may be, but there is enough quality strewn throughout the invitational side to suggest that England will have it far from their own way.

England: B Foden (Northampton); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tindall (Gloucester), S Hape (Bath), D Strettle (Harlequins); C Hodgson (Sale Sharks), D Care (Harlequins); J Golding (Newcastle), S Thompson (Brive), P Doran-Jones (Gloucester), D Attwood (Gloucester), T Palmer (Stade Francais), J Haskell (Stade Francais), S Armitage (London Irish), N Easter (Harlequins, capt)

Replacements: L Mears (Bath), T Payne (Wasps), D Ward-Smith (Wasps), J Worsley (Wasps), J Simpson (Wasps), O Barkley (Bath), M Tait (Sale Sharks)

Barbarians: P Warwick (Munster); P Sackey (Wasps), C Laulala (Cardiff Blues), F Fritz (Toulouse), C Heymans (Toulouse); J-B Ellisalde (Toulouse), B Kelleher (Toulouse); R Roncero (Stade Francais), B August (Biarritz), J White (Leicester), R Skeate (Toulon), B Kay (Leicester), R So'oialo (Hurricanes), M Williams (Cardiff Blues), X Rush (Cardiff Blues, capt)

Replacements: K Owens (Scarlets), C Johnston (Toulouse), J Thion (Biarritz), G Smith (ACT Brumbies), P Mignoni (Toulon), F Estebanez (Brive)