England have been rocked by the loss of captain Steve Borthwick on the eve of Saturday's RBS 6 Nations meeting with France in Saint Denis.
The veteran lock has been struggling with a long-standing knee injury he aggravated in last weekend's 15-15 draw with Scotland at Murrayfield.
Borthwick was given as much time as possible to prove his fitness but it was decided just before the team's departure for Paris that he would not have recovered in time to line out against Les Bleus.
As a result, Louis Deacon will come into the second row, with Tom Palmer, who had been on standby, will provide cover from the bench.
Borthwick's absence also results in recalled flanker Lewis Moody being entrusted with the captain's armband for the game at the Stade de France.
Team manager Martin Johnson said: "Lewis is an inspirational figure in the group and he will bring us that energy and dynamism.
"There is a core group of leaders and we could have chosen two or three guys. Mike Tindall has just come back as a senior player and Nick Easter is a leader at number eight.
"Steve's injury is worse than we first thought and he is out for us this week. Louis will start and Tom Palmer comes on to the bench.
"We brought him in because of his lineout ability."
Revised England team: B Foden; M Cueto, Mike Tindall, R Flutey, C Ashton; T Flood, D Care; T Payne, D Hartley, D Cole, S Shaw, L Deacon; J Worsley, L Moody (capt), N Easter.
Replacements: S Thompson, D Wilson, T Palmer, J Haskell, Ben Youngs, J Wilkinson, M Tait.