Andy Farrell is confident Sam Burgess has what it takes to succeed for England in Test rugby, but denied that Saturday's encounter against France is "do-or-die" for the Bath star's Rugby World Cup hopes.
Burgess is set for his first taste of international rugby union just 10 months after swapping codes from league.
Head coach Stuart Lancaster has named Burgess at inside centre to partner Exeter Chiefs' Henry Slade, even though most pundits feel his best form came when playing flanker for Bath.
Burgess and Slade are two of a potential four England debutants at Twickenham and Lancaster has previously hinted that only one will be part of his final World Cup squad.
Backs coach Farrell is backing Burgess to shine, but cooled the significance of Saturday's contest against Les Bleus.
"What makes me believe Sam is ready is that I have seen the fact he has got himself to the situation he is at now," Farrell said.
"He's in a squad of 38 players and that means he has done the work required to get himself a chance to play in the first warm-up game.
"You'd like to think there's a big game in him. We hope he's part of a good team performance and that's the main focus of all the lads.
"Everyone would like to put this out as a trial match and a do-or-die situation for some players, but we don't see it like that."
Northampton Saints flanker Calum Clark will earn his first England start while uncapped Exeter front-rower Luke Cowan-Dickie is among the substitutes, but France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has no new caps in his team.
It will be a big contest for fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc, though, who is making his first Test appearance since February 2014.
The Montpellier man, who will make his 50th France appearance, had been in good form before breaking his leg ahead of the November internationals and with Saint-Andre likely to take just two specialist fly-halfs to the World Cup, Trinh-Duc will know the pressure is on to perform.
Both teams will be without their regular captains. England skipper Chris Robshaw is rested, while France counterpart Thierry Dusautoir is not being risked after taking a knock to his knee.
England, who beat France 55-35 in a thrilling Six Nations finale at Twickenham earlier this year, will travel to Paris for a return warm-up on August 22.