Rugby World Cup 2011: Delon Armitage will start on the wing in place of Mark Cueto for England against Scotland

Armitage features as one of three changes from last weekend's 67-3 victory over Romania, which was sparked by a quick-fire hat-trick from Cueto on his comeback from injury.

Matt Stevens starts at loosehead prop following an ankle injury and Courtney Lawes returns to the second row, having served a two-match ban.

An England victory will seal their passage to the World Cup quarter-finals as group winners - but defeat without any bonus points could bring their campaign to a crashing halt.

Alex Corbisiero and Tom Palmer drop to the bench but there is no place in the 22 for Cueto, with the more versatile Matt Banahan preferred among the replacements.

No 8 Nick Easter has replaced Tom Wood among the replacements after recovering from the back injury that kept him sidelined from the victories over Georgia and Romania.

Chris Ashton, whose five tries so far make him the tournament's leading try-scorer, Ben Foden, Manu Tuilagi, Dan Cole and James Haskell will all have started every England pool game.

Captain Lewis Moody will win his 70th cap on Saturday and Jonny Wilkinson his 90th.

Armitage missed England's Six Nations campaign after being suspended for eight weeks following a run-in with an anti-doping official.

But Johnson has been impressed with Armitage's form and dedication - and he gets his chance against Scotland with Cueto deemed to still not be 100 per cent match fit after a back injury.

"Delon has played very well, we are very comfortable with him playing there and Mark has had limited game time since he has been here," said Johnson.

"We thought Courtney was playing very well. He hasn't played for two weeks but we are very comfortable he will come and perform for us.

"He has played very well. I said all the way through that if Delon is in good form he is a Test match player.

"He wasn't available to us in the Six Nations but he has come back from that and has worked very hard all the way through.

"I said if he is playing well and doing everything right he will get a shot and put pressure on the guys in the top three.

"The injury with Mark has been a factor with that and he is probably one game short of being right back where he could be."

There are a number of permutations that could unfold over the weekend, but Johnson refuses to rely on picking up losing bonus points or hoping Georgia can hold Argentina.

"It's knockout rugby. Let's not worry about points difference. We have to win, they have to win," said Johnson.

England XV: B Foden (Northampton Saints); C Ashton (Northampton Saints), M Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), M Tindall (Gloucester Rugby), D Armitage (London Irish); J Wilkinson (Toulon), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers); M Stevens (Saracens), S Thompson (London Wasps), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), L Deacon (Leicester Tigers), C Lawes (Northampton Saints), T Croft (Leicester Tigers), L Moody (Bath Rugby, capt), J Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams).
Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton Saints), A Corbisiero (London Irish), T Palmer (Stade Francais), N Easter (Harlequins), R Wigglesworth (Saracens), T Flood (Leicester Tigers), M Banahan (Bath Rugby).

Carlos Tevez faces the sack as Manchester City read riot act following Argentine's refusal to play against Bayern

Following a day of talks involving manager Roberto Mancini, senior figures from the club’s hierarchy and City’s legal advisers, Tévez is expected to be told to stay away from the Carrington training ground on Thursday morning as an internal investigation is launched into the events at the Allianz Arena that resulted in Mancini claiming that the Argentine forward was “finished” and would “never” play for the club again.

City confirmed the punishment in a statement on Wednesday night. “The player’s suspension is pending a full review into his alleged conduct during Tuesday evening’s 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich,” the statement said. “The player will not be considered for selection or take part in training whilst the review is under way.”

A fine of two weeks’ wages, the maximum allowed under Football Association regulations, is likely to cost the striker a basic £400,000.

Tévez’s attempts to forget his troubles and play golf backfired on Wednesday when he was turned away from Tytherington Golf Club in Cheshire with his wife because he had not booked a tee-off time and the course was full. He got in his Mercedes and headed back to his mansion in Alderley Edge.

City are determined to investigate Tuesday’s events, with players and coaching staff present on the substitutes’ bench at the time of the incident likely to be asked to provide observations, with television interviews also set to be reviewed.

Despite the prospect of writing off a playing asset valued at £50 million during the summer transfer window, it is understood that the club’s Abu Dhabi power brokers have not discounted the prospect of sacking Tévez for his actions in Munich.

Chelsea’s decision to sack the Romanian forward Adrian Mutu in October 2004 for testing positive for cocaine offers City a precedent. Mutu was then ordered to pay £14.6 million in compensation to Chelsea in July, 2009 for breach of contract, although there is no suggestion that Tévez’s refusal to play for City is comparable to Mutu testing positive for cocaine.

Sacking Tévez, described as a possibility by senior Premier League sources, is regarded as an option of last resort, but the 27 year-old’s behaviour has angered players, management and administrators, with a majority of fans voicing their fury at the forward and insisting that he should never play for the club again.

After Tévez admitted in an interview with Sky Sports after the game against Bayern that “I didn’t feel I was right to play, so I didn’t”, his representatives issued a statement on the player’s behalf on Wednesday morning in which he said he “never refused to play”.

Suggestions that Mancini told Tévez to “---- off to Argentina”, and also urged Edin Dzeko to “---- off back to Bosnia”, during the touchline row were put to City, who declined to respond.

But it has emerged that Tévez was angered by Mancini telling him to warm up on the touchline after being overlooked in favour of Nigel de Jong as a 55th-minute replacement for Dzeko, who left the field shaking his head and threw his boots to the floor.

Mancini then clashed with Pablo Zabaleta, sat alongside Tévez in the dugout, after the defender was unable to warm up due to a delay in tying his boot laces.

Having been made aware of hostile threads on fans forums calling for supporters to vent their anger at Tévez on his return to Manchester Airport in the early hours of Wednesday, City increased security at the terminal.

With universal criticism of Tévez greeting his conduct, the club are mindful of the difficulty they would face in assimilating the player back into the squad and it is understood that there is little appetite to do so.

Mancini has made it clear to chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak that he does not want the player at the club’s training ground, but the former Inter Milan coach is understood to be opposed to sacking Tévez.

His insistence that Tévez will not play for the club again will diminish his value when the transfer window reopens in January, but selling him at a reduced fee is a more appealing option than allowing him to become a free agent by cancelling his contract.

City have been told they would have the support of Fifa should they wish to terminate Tévez’s contract, with Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce claiming that the player’s behaviour was “despicable”.

Boyce said: “If City write to Fifa and state the exact circumstances, then I believe Fifa should have the power, as they do for drugs-related and other cases, to ban the player from taking an active part in football.”

Rugby World Cup 2011: Mark Cueto loses place to Delon Armitage for England's pool decider against Scotland

Armitage, who played in England's victories over Argentina and Georgia but was rested for the 67-3 win over Romania in Otago last Saturday, is expected to be one of three changes to the side to face Scotland, with a place in the World Cup quarter-finals at stake for both sides.

Courtney Lawes, the Northampton lock, is also set to return to the second row after serving his two-match ban for striking Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma with his knee. Tom Palmer will drop to the bench.

The Saracens prop, Matt Stevens, has also recovered fully from a sprained ankle sustained against Georgia to return at loosehead prop in place of Alex Corbisiero.

Jonny Wilkinson will retain the fly-half position despite coming under mounting pressure from Toby Flood, while James Haskell, England’s outstanding forward of the tournament so far, is set to continue at No 8 in place of Nick Easter, who missed the game against Georgia and Romania with a back injury.

It is Armitage’s promotion that is the most eye-catching change, however. Cueto, absent against Argentina and Georgia with a back injury sustained during England’s final World Cup warm-up match against Ireland, looked to have returned to top form when he crossed the line three times in the first 26 minutes against Romania.

However, Armitage’s gain-line breaking form, which was a highlight of England’s World Cup warm-up games, has clinched a place for the 27 year-old, who missed the Six Nations title-winning campaign because of a ban for pushing a doping official after a Premiership match against Bath on New Year’s Day.

Armitage received another ban for punching Northampton fly-half Stephen Myler, which deprived him of the chance to play for England against the Barbarians in June.

Armitage said Saturday’s match — Scotland must win at Eden Park and by a margin of eight points to hope to reach the quarter-finals — would be “the biggest game of his career”. A win for England would be enough to ensure Johnson’s side top the pool and book a likely quarter-final against France.

“This is a World Cup. You lose, you go home. You win you progress,” said Armitage, who will win his 26th cap on Saturday. “I am very pleased with my form. There is still a lot more to come. It was tough sitting on the bench against Romania, watching the two wings score a hat-trick and Ben Foden getting over the line.

“I have been working very hard in the games before that and hopefully I get a run. If not, as long as England are doing well, the guys are scoring tries and we are winning that is all that matters.”

Armitage, who was England’s first-choice full-back in 2009 before he suffered a dislocated shoulder and then lost his place to Foden, acknowledged that Scotland would prove to be formidable opponents despite their defeat by Argentina.

“They are very dangerous but we are in the same situation as them,” added Armitage. “We will be up for it. We know how Scotland will come at us. Every year they come and try and turn us over. We will be ready for it.”

Stevens, meanwhile, said he was feeling “fit and strong” having recovered from an ankle problem.

“Every game from now on you’ve got to think about as a knockout game — they are all cup finals up until the end of the tournament now,” said Stevens, who played in England’s World Cup final defeat by France in 2007. “That is how you win World Cups, by taking them one game at a time — not that I’ve won a World Cup but that’s how I imagine you do it.”

ENGLAND (probable): B Foden (Northampton); C Ashton (Northampton), M Tuilagi (Leicester), M Tindall (Gloucester), D Armitage (London Irish); J Wilkinson (Toulon), B Youngs (Leicester); M Stevens (Saracens), S Thompson (Wasps), D Cole (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), C Lawes (Northampton), T Croft (Leicester), L Moody (Bath), J Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams).

Carlos Tevez ‘is finished’ warns angry Roberto Mancini after Manchester City's defeat by Bayern Munich

In a remarkably blunt post-match address to the media, Mancini also warned Edin Dzeko that he will not allow another outburst of the petulance which greeted his 55th substitution, when the Bosnian glared at his manager before throwing his boots to the ground.

But Mancini offered no such final warning to Tévez, however, and the former City captain is now facing three months as an outcast at the club before the reopening of the transfer window on Jan 1.

“What I said to Carlos is between me, him and the team.” Mancini said. “But Carlos cannot play with us now. It is finished.

“If one player earns a lot of money, plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this, for me he can’t play. Never. This can’t happen in a top club when a player refuses to help his team-mates in an important match like tonight.”

Tévez hit back at Mancini, however, but insisted he was not in the right frame of mind to play.

“I didn’t feel I was right to play, so I didn’t.” Tévez said. “I was the top scorer last season and I always act professionally.”

Asked whether he feared Mancini would follow through with his threat to end his City career, Tévez said: “It is up to him.”

Tévez, who failed in his attempt to force a move from the club during the summer, had been due to replace Samir Nasri in the 69th minute of City’s 2-0 Champions League defeat in the Allianz Arena.

But Mancini was forced to turn to James Milner as Nasri’s replacement after Tévez defied the Italian by rejecting his call to warm-up and prepare to take Nasri’s place.

Mancini has confirmed that he will hold talks with City chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak within the next 24 hours to discuss Tévez’s future, but the former Inter Milan manager has made it clear that Tévez will not play for him again.

Mancini said: “In the next day, I’m sure I will speak with Khaldoon because is the chairman.

“He is the chairman and he will decide everything, but do you think at Bayern Munich a player can behave like this, at Milan, at Manchester United? No. This is the answer.

“I have helped him for two years. If I decide, then yes [he goes]. But he has wanted to leave for the last two years and now he has refused to play. I don’t know [if the club will cancel his contract], but with me he is finished.”

Tévez has been a controversial figure at Eastlands since his arrival from Manchester United in a £32 million transfer in July 2009.

The forward’s relationship with Mancini has rarely been smooth since the Italian replaced Mark Hughes as manager in December 2009 and the pair have been embroiled in several high-profile spats and disputes.

Tévez complained about Mancini’s training regime shortly after his arrival as Hughes’s successor, while the pair were involved in touchline bust-ups last season prior to Tévez demanding a transfer last December. On that occasion, Tévez withdrew his transfer request within a week, but the player then went public on his desire to leave this summer before seeing a move to Corinthians fall through due to the Brazilian club’s failure to convince City of their ability to fund the £40 million deal.

With Tévez criticising Manchester and describing the city as a place he would ''not even visit on holiday”, he lost the support of his team-mates, with senior members of the squad urging Mancini to strip him of the captaincy.

Mancini responded to those wishes by appointing Vincent Kompany as captain at the start of this season, but with Tévez losing the captaincy and also his place in the team following the summer arrival of Sergio Agüero, his displeasure at being reduced to a bit-part player has become evident in recent weeks.

Tévez’s fury erupted last night, however, with his refusal to play for the team who continue to pay his £200,000-a-week wages.

Mancini’s anger was not restricted to Tévez, though, with Dzeko’s petulant reaction to being replaced also earning a stern rebuke from the City manager.

“I am furious with Dzeko’s performance.” Mancini said. “The next game, he will be on the bench with me. He played a bad game, a poor game, but next time maybe if he players better, maybe he can stay on the pitch.

“If we want to improve to the level of Bayern Munich some players need to improve their behaviour.

“This is the last time one player leaves the pitch and moves his head like this.

“Dzeko is different [to Tévez] but this is the last time he has this behaviour. I can understand why one player is disappointed. It is important that inside he can understand his performance.

“But I am the manager and I can decide everything. Maybe sometimes I make a mistake and don’t do the right things.

“I think every manager can do what he thinks at this moment.”

Tévez’s behaviour brought condemnation from outside the club, with former Liverpool manager Graeme Souness backing Mancini’s stance.

Souness said: “He [Tevez] is a disgrace to football. The owners need to get him as far away from the club as possible because that can spread.”

Rugby World Cup 2011: England prop Matt Stevens fit to face Scotland after ankle injury

The prop, who turns 29 on Saturday, was part of an England team that repeatedly fell foul of referee Jonathan Kaplan in their scrappy Pool B victory against Georgia before he limped off the field towards the end. Declaring the sprained ankle that ruled him out of the third group game against Romania "all good", Stevens conceded that it was his binding, or lack of it, that had drawn the ire of the South African official. "We're a very legal scrum, we want to scrummage," he said. "We're pretty happy with the way we're scrummaging. We obviously can improve. If you look at the scrums when we got the penalties, we were the team going forward, we felt strong, we had a good hit. "So if I can get my bind right, we'll be fine." Despite having won their first three pool matches, England still need to beat their oldest rivals at Eden Park on Saturday to make absolutely sure of qualifying for the quarter-finals. Scotland lost their third pool encounter against Argentina to a late try on Sunday and Stevens, whose slight accent still betrays his South African upbringing, said England had to be ready for a backlash. "It's going to be a tough game, Scotland have their backs against the wall and they're going to come out fighting," he said. "We need to take the next step up physicality and our discipline and we've been working hard on that." Stevens was a member of the England squad that reached the final at the last World Cup but between the two tournaments he served a two-year ban for taking cocaine. The former celebrity TV gameshow star is clearly not too comfortable raking over the coals of the ban every time he talks to the media and it took three questions, each less subtle than the last, before he was drawn on it. "I definitely feel more grounded, I know what I want. I'm really happy with the way things are going," he said. "I've said countless times how important it was to have those two years off and reflect on what's important to me. I'm definitely a better person for it." Stevens has played most of his Test career at tighthead and although he is hoping to win a spot on the other side of the front row against the Scots, he said he would play anywhere if it meant being part of the team as the pool phase reaches its climax. "Every game from now on you've got to think about as a knockout game," he said. "They're World Cup finals all the way up to the end of the tournament. That's how you win a World Cup, you take them one game at a time. "Not that I've won a World Cup," he added hurriedly. "But I imagine that's how you would do it."

Bayern Munich v Manchester City: Roberto Mancini urges squad to face Champions League opponents as equals

City's first Champions League away game is sprinkled with stardust. Bayern were runners-up as recently as 2010 and have won the competition four times, emphasising their status as one of Europe's superpowers.

Yet Mancini is adamant such history should not leave his own squad feeling overawed at the task ahead of them.

"Playing against Bayern Munich is always difficult for an English team. But the same is also (true) for them," said Mancini. "It will be a difficult game. When you play against this team you can lose.

"But we are not a small team. We are a good team. We play against them without a problem. We have a lot of respect for them. They have a great history. But we want to do a good job."

Nevertheless, that a club who only 13 years ago were spending their midweeks dreaming of victory over Macclesfield are now taking on Bayern as equals is remarkable.

Yet City's long-suffering fans have become numb, such is the frequency with which they have had to pinch themselves since Sheikh Mansour completed his multi-million pound Blues buy-out in 2008.

So very quickly, City have hauled in the heavyweights above them.

Now, with so much less distance to travel, the strides are shorter. Some are still very significant.

"For the supporters it is an important moment," Mancini acknowledged. "Life changes sometimes. Now we are a top club. But one result or one game cannot change everything.

"As a club, a team and a squad we have improved a lot this year and hope to do so in the future. But it is clear that tomorrow is an important game for this group. If we win it will be very important."

There has been a close bond between Munich and Manchester ever since the air crash in 1958, when 23 people – including eight Manchester United players – died.

City shed tears too and club secretary Bernard Halford will lead a delegation tomorrow that will lay a wreath in honour of the fallen, which included former City goalkeeper Frank Swift, who became a journalist upon his retirement from the game.

Mancini acknowledged the sadness of the event. But his focus must be solely on tonight's game, the opposition buoyed by an impressive start which seems them top the Bundesliga with 18 points from their opening seven games.

"It wouldn't change our situation," responded Mancini, when asked about the consequences of defeat.

"I have said this before. This is the hardest group in the Champions League because there are four teams who could go through."