A fresh feel

Three uncapped players have been selected in the starting XV for the Six Nations opener on Saturday, number eight Phil Dowson and centres Brad Barritt and Owen Farrell.

Charlie Hodgson will play at fly-half in place of the injured Toby Flood and Greening is backing interim boss Lancaster's selection.

"I think he set his stall out right from the start. He said he was going to come fresh and pick people on form and he's definitely done that and he's been true to his word," Greening told Sky Sports News HD.

"It is a rebuilding stage for the whole of the RFU so I don't think there's many surprises for me with the number of uncapped (players). It's going to hopefully give us a breath of fresh air and a new enthusiasm which he wanted to bring in.

"It does give me a sense of hope and anticipation to see what we unleash and I just hope we do unleash what these young, uncapped players have got"
Phil Greening Quotes of the week

"But going into the cauldron of Edinburgh and what that brings is a bit of the unknown with this team and it's definitely going to make them or break them."

He continued: "Injuries have also forced his hand - Toby Flood and Manu Tuilagi are both unavailable so it's a Saracens midfield which is relatively inexperienced other than Charlie Hodgson, but they have played in some pretty big games like Premiership finals - touching on Test standards.

Jump

"It's still a massive jump up into Test standard and then an even bigger jump going to Edinburgh against Scotland! But they have got that experience and they've got that combination between each other and that know-how and that's really crucial in the Test arena because it's going to be that subconscious where your mind and body takeover.

"For me having Farrell at 12 does give us that bit of excitement. He's a ball player, he's got great distribution and I'm just really hoping that he can bring that into the game so much and be that ball player that we've been missing for a long time now.

"It does give me a sense of hope and anticipation to see what we unleash and I just hope we do unleash what these young, uncapped players have got."

Dowson was Lancaster's captain during his time as coach of England's second-string Saxons side and Greening believes his distribution will be of great benefit to the team.

"He's really been such a courageous player when he was at Newcastle - he took that team on his shoulder on his own. He's gone to Northampton and it's transformed him," he added.

"He really does deserve this and he's an in-form player at the moment - for the last couple of seasons really - and he's led Northampton to European Cup finals. He's a player that has got a great engine, a great work rate.

"A number eight it will give us a ball player as well. Phil can really play and has great distribution so again, for me, it's very exciting."