Jonny Wilkinson will throw everything into England's South Africa tour finale today, claiming: "We plan to go out there and stand up to it."

England suffered a physical battering against the Springboks in Bloemfontein last Saturday, finding themselves on the receiving end of a record 58-10 defeat.

Wilkinson, promoted to captain for only the second time in his Test career, must somehow inspire England to avoid a repeat result, or worse.

The Newcastle fly half has taken over leadership duties from Jason Robinson, whose knee injury has not healed in time, and he will skipper a side showing six changes from last Saturday.

On paper, it is little more than a damage-limitation exercise for England, who are striving to avoid an eighth successive away defeat and seventh in a row on southern hemisphere soil since being crowned 2003 world champions.

Wilkinson said: "It is a massive privilege and honour for me but it doesn't change my approach to things.

"It has been an interesting couple of weeks, which makes it even more of a challenge. A lot of players have had to step up to the mark and everyone knows what is required of them tomorrow.

"There is a genuine belief we are going somewhere and the feeling is a hugely positive one. This game is a big one to put into practice what we have been doing on the training field and then take it with us into our World Cup training camp.

"We plan to go out there and stand up to it."

England head coach Brian Ashton decided not to name his starting line-up until 24 hours before kick-off, given that resources were stretched due to injuries and a stomach virus that has plagued England almost since their arrival in South Africa just over a fortnight ago.

Ashton though, at last received some good news on the illness front when Harlequins' full back Mike Brown came through a fitness test and training session just two days after England's medical staff ruled him out of contention.

Brown keeps his place for the second Test at Loftus Versfeld, while Ashton has switched Nick Easter from number eight to blindside flanker to give Saracens' Ben Skirving an England debut in a reshuffled back-row alongside Easter and Magnus Lund.

Other changes see starts for Newcastle centre Jamie Noon on the right wing, while Saracens' back Dan Scarborough wears the No 11 shirt for his first Test start in almost four years.

Up front, there are chances for South Africa-born Bath prop Matt Stevens, who has overcome two shoulder operations during the past year, and Bristol lock Roy Winters, with Bath full back Nick Abendanon named on the bench for a possible debut just 24 hours after arriving in South Africa as squad cover.

Johannesburg-born Abendanon has been in sparkling form for his club this season and is viewed by many pundits as England's possible World Cup fullback. Assessing Wilkinson's appointment and the challenge that lies ahead today, Ashton said: ''It was always going to be Jonny to replace Jason Robinson as captain.

"He has led the side before, and he plays in a position where a lot of the game depends on him, so it seemed a logical choice.

"Jonny ran the team session today and he was saying all the right things.

"He is not a tub-thumping guy - he just talks about the key issues. 'There is not a lot of player development that can go on over two weeks, and in terms of finding out about players I've probably found out more about their character off the pitch than on it.

"In terms of a course in crisis management for me, I couldn't have gone anywhere better.

"The players have been remarkably positive and we are better prepared this week because we actually played a Test match last week. It is going to be a big ask for all the players as South Africa are a very difficult side to play against."