The Bath flanker has played fewer than five full matches since initially injuring his knee in a Heineken Cup match in January, which ruled him out of the Six Nations.

But Moody has finally been given clearance to start by the England medics and he returns in place of James Haskell at openside flanker against a powerful Georgian back row.

Tom Wood makes his World Cup debut on the blindside flank as Tom Croft drops to the bench while Nick Easter continues at number eight.

Matt Stevens, a tighthead prop by preference, has been pressed into action at loosehead while Dylan Hartley takes over from Steve Thompson at hooker and Dan Cole retains the tighthead jersey.

Simon Shaw will become the oldest England player at a World Cup and he will form a new second row partnership with Tom Palmer, taking over from Louis Deacon and the suspended Courtney Lawes.

Number eight Nick Easter and tighthead prop Dan Cole are the only survivors in the pack from England’s 13-9 victory over Argentina.

England have reunited their Six Nations title-winning half-back combination of Ben Youngs and Toby Flood, while Shontayne Hape takes over from Mike Tindall at inside centre.

The back three of Ben Foden, Delon Armitage and Chris Ashton remains unchanged.

“It is great to have Lewis back,” said Johnson. “This is a chance for a lot of guys to play. That was always the plan that people would have to play and were ready, to give them a chance for the second half of the pool.

“Courtney is out for a couple of weeks but we would have played the other two locks anyway. It gives Floody a chance to play and Shontayne a chance and Matt to start at loosehead.”

England face the prospect of another attritional contest, with Georgia particularly strong up front.

Johnson said: “We are excited to be back in Dunedin. It was a great game last week, a great atmosphere. It was intense, a real tough battle and it feels like you are almost in sudden death already.

“That is what you want, you want to be battle-hardened as you go through the tournament.”

England enjoyed an eventful week in Queenstown, with the players given the chance to go out drinking and bungee-jumping before knuckling down to prepare for the match.

Johnson believes the criticism that has been levelled at some players for going out drinking last Sunday night – with the permission of the management – will serve as motivation.

“You have to find your edge and your angle. I think this will pull them even closer together,” Johnson said.

Georgia could not exert their expected scrum dominance against Scotland on Wednesday night and eventually went down 15-6 – but they still pushed Andy Robinson’s team right to the death.

“They are very strong individual players. That goes into their set piece and driving game,” said Johnson, who captained England to an 84-6 victory over Georgia in 2003.

“They are very direct. That was a tough game. We had to work for everything and it seemed they were nowhere in 2003 but now they have a real World Cup pedigree.”

Moody welcomed his return to action in his blog for GUINESS 1759, saying: “It has been a frustrating few weeks for me but I always knew I would get back in time to play in this World Cup.

“I wasn’t putting any timescales on it, as they heap too much pressure on me. I have just kept working hard with the England physios and getting there when I am ready, which is now. It is awesome to get back out on the field and participate rather than just watch it.

“Training has gone well and the medics, who I was annoyed with last week when they pulled me out of the Argentina game, have done a great job getting me right.”

Moody is expecting a tough test in England’s second Pool B match, adding: “I know some England fans will expect us to roll off the Georgians on Sunday, but I can reveal that no one in the England camp is thinking like that.

“They were still in the match against Scotland right up until the final minutes, so that shows their pedigree.

“More than 20 of their 30-man squad play in the Top 14 in France and we have the utmost respect for them.”