England will go into Saturday’s final warm-up international against Ireland before the World Cup they are hosting with two centres starting a match together for the first time, 13 days before the tournament opener against Fiji at Twickenham. After 41 matches in charge, the head coach, Stuart Lancaster, said that Jonathan Joseph and Brad Barritt would team up in the midfield, in the 13th pairing of his reign.

Lancaster also plans to shake up his second and back rows against the Six Nations champions after last weekend’s defeat to France in Paris revealed fault-lines in the lineout and at the breakdown, while the hooker Jamie George will be in the 23 for his second cap. At the very point he should know his strongest side, Lancaster is still considering his options. In contrast, the New Zealand centres Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu have started 56 Tests together.

Barritt and Joseph have spent 21 minutes on the field together in a full Test, 13 in the 2012 victory over New Zealand at Twickenham when Joseph came on for Manu Tuilagi and eight earlier in the year against South Africa when Barritt spent eight minutes on the field while Owen Farrell was in the blood bin before replacing Joseph. They were in the midfield together for 30 minutes against the Barbarians in 2012 after Joseph replaced Charlie Hodgson and Farrell moved to outside-half from 12.

They would almost certainly have been England’s midfield partnership in this year’s Six Nations but for an injury to Barritt, as well as in Paris last weekend, but it means England’s four World Cup centres produce only one pairing who have started a Test together, Henry Slade and Sam Burgess against France this month. Barritt has, though, played three internationals at 13 with Farrell, who has been named in the squad as a fly-half, at 12, including Lancaster’s first two in charge in 2012.

“I would like to see Brad have a game and JJ have another match, if that answers your question,” said Lancaster when asked if he knew his first-choice centre pairing. “Brad’s ultimate strength is his competitiveness: he has a winner’s mentality and he’s right up there with the most competitive players I’ve coached. He has grown as a leader and I trust his opinion. He has been involved in all the big games we have won.

“We need a big improvement on the performance in Paris without doubt and there is no bigger test at the moment than Ireland: the focus is on getting that selection right. The team that plays against Ireland will be broadly the one that will face Fiji, but not identical. The core will remain but there may be one or two changes.

‘We’ll be looking at some of the lineout issues we had against France and Geoff Parling has a good chance of starting and running the lineout. We’ve certainly looked at that combination with him, Courtney Lawes and Tom Wood together in the pack. We ran that in a training session on Wednesday and things were a lot more settled in that department and it is a combination we are looking at, although Joe Launchbury and George Kruis might have something to say about that come the Ireland game.”

Barritt, who has started more matches in the centre in the Lancaster era than any other player, 19 – four more than Tuilagi who, along with the next two in the list, Billy Twelvetrees (13) and Luther Burrell (12), is not in the World Cup squad – does not believe unfamiliarity in midfield will be in handicap in a World Cup pool that includes Australia, Wales and Uruguay alongside Fiji.

“We have all trained with and against each other,” Barritt said. “There has been some trial and error and my heart goes out to Luther and Billy: to go all the way up to selection day and be cut is very tough. JJ and I have done a lot in training weeks to simulate Test match conditions, so in that sense we have played together. It is crucial that everyone knows his role inside-out and that is helped by having player input into tactics. All the centres want to bring out the best in each other; we all have our own strengths and weaknesses and none of us is the same which is a strong place to be. JJ and I have been in England squads together for four years and that is ample time to forge a relationship.”

Despite England’s relative inexperience compared with their group rivals Australia and Wales, never mind the holders, New Zealand, Lancaster is confident his players have what it takes to become the fourth host nation to win the World Cup. “I am happy with the way we have prepared and would not change anything,” he said. “In 2011, a lot of the things that caused problems were not rugby-related but off the field. We have co-ordinated all that and made sure everyone is on the same page, which has taken a bit of doing.

“I think we can win the World Cup with home advantage, which is huge because of the energy the crowd provides and the country behind us, given the talent and character we have in the squad. We will have to be at our best to do it over seven games and I have a huge amount of regard for the quality of opposition we have in the pool stage. Ultimately it is down to the players on the field to deliver that and I would like to think we have enough experience now that they can do that week in, week out.”

Centre pairings under Lancaster (starts):

11 Tests: Manu Tuilagi and Brad Barritt.

6: Luther Burrell and Billy Twelvetrees; Jonathan Joseph and Burrell.

3: Barritt and Owen Farrell; Barritt and Twelvetrees; Joel Tomkins and Twelvetrees.

2: Joseph and Tuilagi; Tuilagi and Kyle Eastmond; Barritt and Eastmond.

1: Joseph and Twelvetrees; Eastmond and Joseph; Henry Slade and Sam Burgess.