England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet says England need to act on attacking instinct, rather than over-thinking, to bounce back with a win over Japan.

"We want to just free ourselves up a bit, make sure we are not overthinking things," said the 21-year-old.

"It is a mindset. We really want to hit the ground running and bring that real physicality and aggression."

Defeat by Argentina follows a trend of England losing the first matches of a series or tournament.

They bounced back from a first Test reverse to win a series away to Australia in the summer, while a disappointing Six Nations campaign earlier in the year began with a loss away to Scotland.

With matches against New Zealand and South Africa to come on successive weekends, Van Poortvliet says his side know need to assert themselves on Japan early if they are to secure a morale-boosting win.

"Our challenge tomorrow is how can we get on the front foot early," he added.

"We are really excited to go tomorrow with an intent to go at them."

Defeat for England tomorrow has the potential to tip the team into crisis and could relegate them to eighth in the world rankings, matching their lowest position ever.

Japan, under the guidance of former All Black trio Jamie Joseph, Tony Brown and John Mitchell, have been spoiling for a major scalp this year.

The Brave Blossoms pushed New Zealand all the way in a 38-31 defeat in Tokyo last month, while France edged to a narrow 20-15 win having trailed after 70 minutes in the Japanese capital in July.

If his team can stand up to England's strength and power, Joseph says their high-tempo game could produce another shock at Twickenham.

"We play rugby differently and we know we will have to deal with the pressure and physicality England will bring," he said.

"If we can do that, then we can play our own brand of rugby and create pressure for them."

Stars like flanker Kazuki Himeno and wing Kotaro Matsushima have returned to Japanese club rugby this year to share knowledge gained from stints overseas. Both start for the visitors.

England coach Eddie Jones is well aware of Japan's potential having overseen the team's astonishing upset of South Africa in the pool stages of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Jones, who has Japanese heritage through his mother, also still holds an advisory position with Tokyo club side Suntory Sungoliath.

'I want to see him rip some inside shoulders off'

Van Poortvliet's promotion ahead of Leicester team-mate Ben Youngs is one of five changes to the England starting XV that lost to Argentina last weekend.

Another sees Guy Porter, also of Leicester, brought into outside centre as injury-prone first-choice 13 Manu Tuilagi is named on the bench to manage his workload.

England attack coach Martin Gleeson insists that Porter is better prepared for Test rugby after the 25-year-old won his first two Test caps against Australia earlier this year.

"We just want to see his toughness and his abrasiveness, running hard, hitting holes," said Gleeson

"He has put a few kilos on since the summer, he is in really good shape.

"He is a guy of not many words, but he leads by his actions and I am looking forward to seeing him rip some inside shoulders off."

Inside Porter will be captain Owen Farrell and fly-half Marcus Smith.

England's twin playmaker pivot has been questioned after defeat by the Pumas, but Van Poortvliet is a definite fan.

"It is brilliant," he said.

"You have got both those voices outside you, which gives you the confidence, when they want that ball it is probably going to be on.

"It gives the nine so many options, it only makes us better."