EAST Lancashire's Iain Balshaw has reaped the reward for his heroics against Australia last week when he was handed his first start in an England shirt.

Balshaw, who came off the bench to set up England's last-ditch winner in a stirring and inventive cameo performance against the world champions, replaces Bath team-mate Matt Perry at full-back as England coach Clive Woodward caps a dramatic week in English rugby by making five changes for Saturday's Test match against Argentina.

The inclusion of Balshaw, at 21 the youngest man in the England squad, in his preferred role of full-back -- a position Perry had made his own for club and country with some impressive performances over the past three years -- which is the most exciting development in Woodward's thinking.

Balshaw, a down-to-earth Lancashire lad from Blackburn, has already proved in his six previous appearances as a replacement that he possesses the speed of thought and foot on the wing to be a game-breaker.

He might well have made the breakthrough even sooner but for a serious groin and abdomen injury which required surgery last May and kept him out of England's summer tour of South Africa.

"I was gutted to miss that tour," admitted Balshaw, who first suffered the injury in the Paris Sevens of 1999 and who last played full-back for his club in the Heineken Cup against Swansea last season.

"I thought I had a good chance of starting the Tests, and it was devastating. I didn't expect to be back as quickly as I was because I had torn fibres in my groin and five layers of my abdomen. It was pretty painful. But I am just glad it is all sorted now. "I am delighted to be starting at full-back but I am not bothered where I play -- wing, full-back or outside centre -- so long as I do.

"Matt Perry has been very complimentary and he has congratulated me. He just knows he has to get on with it. That's sport. I've been sitting on the bench for a lot of games."

The traumas of the last week of breakdowns in relations between players and the RFU over pay have not been the ideal preparation for an experienced member of the squad, let alone the precocious Balshaw.

He was forced to return to his Bath home on Tuesday when Woodward delivered his ultimatum to England's first rugby strikers and ejected the squad from the team hotel only to return at 6.45am the next day to a temporary base at Wentworth to await a conclusion to the pay deal.

"I was knackered, and it has been a very anxious week," said Balshaw.

"Everyone was worried from the youngest player to the oldest. I just wanted it all to be sorted out as quickly as possible and get on with the Test match. Now I'm just looking forward to playing on Saturday and beating the Argentinians."

He is under no illusions that, as a newcomer in a crucial position, he will face a searching trial from a nation with a penchant for the high ball.

"I'm sure they'll see me as the new kid in the team and I expect them to bombard me with high balls and kicks through, but it won't bother me," added Balshaw. "You get bombs all the time whether you are on the wing or at full-back."

The all-round sportsman was a fiery opening bowler in Lancashire's county cricket set-up as a 16-year-old when he used to net with England's Andrew Flintoff.

There were high hopes he would make the grade at cricket, and he might also have made it as a professional tennis player after playing for his county in the youth ranks. Instead, he chose rugby, and Woodward, for one, is delighted.

Ben Cohen, missing from the Australian clash because of the death of his father, returns on the wing in place of Austin Healey who pays the price for a suspect performance by being left out of the 22-man squad.

Mark Regan comes in for the injured Phil Greening at hooker, Matt Dawson replaces Kyran Bracken at scrum-half in a premeditated switch by Woodward, and Julian White comes in for the rested Phil Vickery at prop.