Bloom or bust for the Red Rose

With Newcastle sitting nervously at the bottom of the Zurich Premiership, you might think that Jonny Wilkinson has enough to think about, but today the young stand-off carries extra responsibilities on his padded shoulders when he leads his country at Twickenham.

To his roles as goal-kicker extraordinaire, playmaker and heavy-duty tackler, Wilkinson now adds the captaincy and, if he is seen as the natural successor to Martin Johnson, there is no better place to start than against Italy.

Accustomed as they are to amassing huge scores against the Italians, whether at headquarters or in Rome, England do not bear a close resemblance to the side who did enough to beat Wales in Cardiff, but not much more. There are nine changes, three of them positional, most of them enforced, and Clive Woodward, the manager-coach, is keen to dispel the notion that he is using the visit of Italy to tinker.

"This is no championship in which to experiment,'' Woodward reiterated. "This is my top team and it's been chosen on merit. I always pick my strongest for every Six Nations match. It's what the people at Twickenham expect and what the championship wants and deserves.''

With political correctness high on Woodward's agenda, England maintain the line that experimentation is for the training field. They cannot be seen to be treating opponents with anything less than full respect. Thus, as far as the captaincy is concerned, this is a one-off game. Johnson will be back to lead England against Scotland at Twickenham in little under a fortnight.

Nevertheless, against Italy, England can afford to take a few liberties. If they could have chosen to rest key players, there is no better time. Enter Josh Lewsey, who plays a lot of his rugby on the wing for Wasps, at full-back in place of Jason Robinson.

"I'm looking forward to seeing Josh play,'' Woodward said. "I've got a lot of time for him. He still thinks he's the best full-back in the country.''

Informed of Woodward's remark, Lewsey gave an embarrassed laugh. "Robinson and his dancing feet is like John Travolta,'' he said. "He's brilliant, the best in the world without a shadow of a doubt. I just hope I can offer something different.''

When Robinson first tripped the light fantastic at Twickenham, the opposition were spellbound. Since then, he has been double- and triple-marked. Lewsey will not have that flattering attention, which means he could be dangerous. With Iain Balshaw and Matt Perry out of the frame, what Woodward wants to know is whether Lewsey is officer material.

The Wasp won the last of his six caps against the United States in 2001, the year he left Sandhurst as a second lieut-enant in the Royal Artillery. Torn between being a professional soldier or a professional rugby player, Lewsey said: "I wasn't sure that I could prove to my men that I was doing the job properly.''

This is his first appearance in the Six Nations, and his promotion has helped convince him he made the right career choice. Had he stayed in the army, he would have been in the Middle East, preparing for possible action against Iraq. "A lot of my friends are heading for the Gulf,'' he said. "I used to worry about the game, but no more. I'm getting paid for doing something I love. I'm going to go out and enjoy it.''

The team as a whole, after victories over France and Wales that failed to hit the spot, have the same aim. The "experiment'' of playing Charlie Hodgson at inside-centre was not a conspicuous success and he has been demoted to the bench, along with Kyran Bracken. Andy Gomarsall and Phil Christophers were put in the A team. Back come James Simpson-Daniel, Mike Tindall and Matt Dawson.

Dawson is one of four senior players – Wilkinson, Lawrence Dallaglio and Will Greenwood are the others – who chewed the fat (or in this case, fruit and muesli) with Woodward over breakfast at their Bagshot HQ. "They were a little bit cranky about what happened against Wales,'' Woodward said.

At 23, Wilkinson, who made his debut at 18, which seems a lifetime ago, is not England's youngest captain. Will Carling was 22 when he was the chosen leader in 1988. "There have been times this past week when I've stepped back and looked at things in a different perspective, but captaincy holds no fears for me,'' Wilkinson said. "I've led teams at mini level, in schools rugby and in county and divisional rugby. I captained the England Under-18s and I'm doing the job at Newcastle, where we're under a fair bit of pressure. What I have now is a new challenge, and I enjoy challenges.''

Captaining Newcastle has made this a difficult season for Wilkinson, and Woodward admitted he thought about restoring the armband to Dallaglio. Dallaglio, the leader in 1997, has been made vice-captain against the land of his father. Dallaglio, who was once approached by Italy to represent the Azzurri, has been moved to his optimum position of No 8, with Joe Worsley at blindside and Richard Hill at openside.

Surrounded by lieutenants, Wilkinson, at his happiest hunting ground, will not be short of advice should he need it. "We're all different and there's no point me trying to be someone else, because it wouldn't be convincing. I'll take what I need from the senior people around me, but I've learned a great deal from my experience at Newcastle.''

In any case, this is not a role as demanding as captaining England in other fields. In a barren landscape, Twickenham remains a beacon within a fortress complete with archers, a moat and boiling oil. The Red Rose thrives at the old cabbage patch, where England have not been beaten for four years.

From the shires, dressed in half a sheep, having eaten the other half, they flock to an otherwise anonymous pocket of suburbia, party in a muddy field that is the car park, take pride in the St George's Cross, sing "Land of Hope and Glory" and expect England to deliver.