Northampton Saints flanker Lewis Ludlam has been brought into the XV as one of three changes made by England head coach Steve Borthwick for Sunday's Rugby World Cup clash with Japan in Pool D.

England opened their bid for glory with a thrilling 27-10 win over Argentina thanks to a kicking masterclass from George Ford, despite losing Tom Curry to an early red card.

With Curry sitting out Sunday's encounter in Nice through suspension, Ludlam has been given the nod in the number eight role, as Billy Vunipola makes the bench after completing a ban of his own.

Ludlam came on for the final 15 minutes against Argentina and posted 11 tackles in a fine cameo display, and his introduction sees Ben Earl shifted to openside flanker.

In addition, Kyle Sinckler and Joe Marler have been brought into the attacking line, replacing Ellis Genge and Dan Cole, the latter of whom has not even made the replacements bench.

"It was both pleasing and important that we were able to start our Rugby World Cup campaign with a good win against Argentina last Saturday," Borthwick told englandrugby.com after naming his team.

"It was incredible to see so many of our supporters in the stadium in Marseille. Their support means a great deal to the team. We hope that we were able to provide the supporters both here in France and at home with some great memories, and we are setting out to do the same again this Sunday in Nice.

"After another good week's preparation in Le Touquet, we are looking forward to the challenge of playing a Japan side that will be full of confidence following their comprehensive win over Chile in their opening fixture of the competition."

Courtney Lawes will continue as captain in place of Owen Farrell, who still has one game of his four-match ban left to serve, as Ford seeks to repeat his heroics from the success over Argentina.

England ended the opening matchday second in the Pool D standings, one point behind Japan thanks to their opponents' 42-12 win over Chile, where they racked up six tries.

England starting lineup: Steward; May, Marchant, Tuilagi, Daly; Ford, Mitchell; Marler, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Chessum, Lawes (c), Earl, Ludlam.
Replacements: Dan, Genge, Stuart, Martin, Vunipola, Youngs, Smith, Lawrence.

Japan starting lineup: Masirewa; Matsushima, Osada, Nakamura, Naikabula; Matsuda, Nagare; Inagaki, Horie, Gu, Cornelsen, Fakatava, Leitch, Labuschagne, Himeno (c)
Replacements: Sakate, Millar, Ai Valu, Dearns, Shimokawa, Saito, Riley, Lemeki