Panic sets in as England change six
Robinson takes drastic measures
England boss Andy Robinson has made sweeping changes for Saturday's second Test against Australia at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.
Six players are drafted into the side following last weekend's 34-3 thumping in Sydney, while Newcastle back Mathew Tait is switched from centre to wing.
There are call-ups for Tait's Falcons colleague, centre Jamie Noon, Leicester fly-half Andy Goode, Tigers forwards George Chuter and Ben Kay, plus Sale Sharks lock Chris Jones and Wasps flanker Joe Worsley.
Wing Tom Voyce and lock Alex Brown are dropped from the match-day 22 completely, while fly-half Olly Barkley, hooker Lee Mears, lock Louis Deacon and flanker Magnus Lund find themselves demoted to the bench.
Chuter will make his first Test start – he is among five Leicester forwards on duty, including the entire front row – with 34-year-old World Cup winner Mike Catt retained at inside centre for a 67th cap, taking him above Neil Back on England's all-time list.
England are striving to avoid a fifth successive defeat against all opponents, which would be their worst results sequence for more than 20 years.
The odds are stacked against Robinson's men gaining the victory which would see them retain the Cook Cup.
They have lost 12 of their previous Tests against Australia Down Under, and the Wallabies are likely to improve considerably following a rusty display last Sunday.
Voyce pays the price for a poor performance in Sydney, when alarming defensive deficiencies surfaced, while Brown could make little impact opposite established Wallabies second-row pairing Nathan Sharpe and Dan Vickerman.
Tait's appearance on the wing – he has played there regularly for Newcastle – allows the consistent Noon a chance to cement his place as England's leading centre, although goalkicker Goode's promotion at the expense of Barkley is a surprise.
Full-back Iain Balshaw and wing Tom Varndell – England's most dangerous attackers in Sydney – are deservedly retained, but it is in the pack where head coach Robinson has really shaken things up.
Chuter always appeared a strong bet to start one of the Tests, with Jones and Worsley both rewarded for solid contributions after they appeared off the bench at Telstra Stadium.
It will be World Cup winner Kay's first England start since the Scotland game at Twickenham last year, while Worsley's 51st cap comes a week after he was omitted from first Test contention, much to his anger and frustration.
Saturday's game is the final encounter for England this season after a campaign that has so far produced five defeats from nine starts.
"I've made a number of selection changes from the first game because I believe they will give us more penetration around the park," said Robinson.
"Andy Goode did well when he came on on Sunday and I think he will attack the line more than we did for a lot of the game at the weekend.
"I don't think Tom Voyce gave us the penetration we needed on the left side. We had two good opportunites to turn George Smith from the re-starts but we didn't take them and that's one of the reasons I'm playing Mat Tait on the left wing along with Tom Varndell on the right wing.
"Although Tom Varndell made a couple of errors, which he will learn from, he was also responsible for a couple of our highlights like beating Lote Tuqiri.
"I'm keeping Mike Catt in the side because he played well and we need his experience in he mifield area nd I think he willlink well with Jamie Noon.
Meanwhile, captain Pat Sanderson admitted the world champions are "hurting" as they prepare for the Test series salvage mission.
"Our biggest problem last weekend was our lack of accuracy," said Sanderson.
"We have talked about it. There have been no reprimands, but we've been honest with each other about our mistakes.
"No successful team can operate without honesty. There again, we did an awful lot of things well and we are not far off where we want to be.
"We hate losing, and we are hurting at the moment. The beauty of the situation is that we have an opportunity to put it right."
England: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Mike Catt, 11 Mathew Tait, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Peter Richards, 8 Pat Sanderson (capt), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Chris Jones, 3 Julian White, 2 George Chuter, 1 Graham Rowntree.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Tim Payne, 18 Louis Deacon, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Nick Walshe, 21 Olly Barkley, 22 Stuart Abbott.
Date: Saturday, June 17
Venue: Telstra Stadium, Melbourne
Kick-off: 20:00 (10:00 GMT)
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Kelvin Deaker, Lyndon Bray (both New Zealand)
Television match official: Gary Wise (New Zealand)
Assessor: Sandy MacNeill (Australia)