Fly-half Andy Goode has been told by England manager Martin Johnson to make the Test No.10 shirt his own after being recalled for Saturday's Six Nations opener against Italy at Twickenham.

Goode was selected for his first international in over two years after being named on Tuesday in the starting line-up.

Renowned for both his place-kicking and kicking out of hand, Brive-based Goode is the leading pointscorer in French top-flight rugby this season with 160 points in 16 games.

Goode was added to England's training squad in Portugal last week and stayed for the whole camp after being initially asked to attend for just the first two days.

The 28-year-old, now preparing for only his fourth start, played the last of his nine Tests against South Africa in November 2006.

That was Andy Robinson's last match in charge and Goode didn't feature during the brief tenure of Brian Ashton.

But with Toby Flood struggling with a calf injury, and Danny Cipriani demoted to the reserve Saxons side, Johnson has decided his old Leicester teammate is the man for the job.

And that doesn't just mean being a stop-gap.

"He's playing well and he trained very well with us last week," Johnson told reporters on Tuesday.

"He's an experienced player, he's been around a long time," added Johnson, whose squad have been forced to train indoors as a result of the recent heavy snow-falls in Britain.

"Andy is 28, he's not over the hill by any means. He's a different guy to the one I've played with, more mature as a player and a person. If he plays well, like anybody, he'll be difficult to dislodge."

In November, England suffered convincing defeats at the hands of Australia, world champions South Africa and New Zealand.

Cipriani featured against the Wallabies and the Springboks before Flood was drafted in to face the All Blacks.

The talented but erratic Cipriani found himself demoted to the reserve team Saxons on Monday and Johnson said: "We thought it was the right call for Danny.

"He's come back from a very serious injury and came back pretty well in November in a team that struggled.

"In no way is Danny discarded, he's only 21-years-old. Most guys haven't even started playing internationals at that age and he's been in for a year."

Cipriani has generated plenty of headlines for his relationship with the model Kelly Brook and Johnson said: "People talk about off-field things if your form dips.

"He needs to find his balance whatever it is. When it's rugby time, (he's) got to be at it 100 per cent but when he was here he was fine."

In all, Johnson made five changes to the team beaten 32-6 by the All Blacks on November 29 for what will be his first Six Nations match in charge.

England have never lost to Italy but the margin of their victory last season was only four points and Johnson said: "Italy are very competitive.

"We can get carried away with their forwards but their backs are hard too. They'll come here thinking they can beat us. There's no chance of us being even subconsciously complacent."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP