Martin Johnson's England signed off their World Cup preparations with a 20-9 victory over Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

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Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi cemented his place in England's midfield. He scored his second try in as many Tests and produced a ferocious defensive performance as England went some way to avenging their Dublin defeat in March, which cost them the Grand Slam.

Delon Armitage came off the bench to latch onto Mike Tindall's grubber kick for England's second try and Jonny Wilkinson added 10 points with the boot.

Tuilagi, just 20, two Tests and now two tries into his international career, already looks the answer to England's long-standing midfield problems.

The Anglo-Samoan juggernaut lined up alongside captain Tindall to form England's 13th different centre partnership in 35 Tests.

And with England's opening World Cup clash with Argentina just a fortnight away, Johnson appears to have found the right combination just in time.

The England manager will have been just as pleased with his side's defensive effort and he celebrated the result with a punch to the air.

But in Ireland's camp, the problems continue to mount for coach Declan Kidney.

Ireland will head to New Zealand on Tuesday on the back of four warm-up defeats and, quite probably, without David Wallace in their ranks.

The Munster flanker reached for his knee after a tackle from Tuilagi and appeared in agony as he was driven from the field on a medical cart.

For a warm-up game, the match was bristling with intensity. It was just what Johnson wanted so close to the World Cup.

England did not escape without injury concerns of their own, with Hendre Fourie and Mark Cueto both replaced after just 21 minutes.

England had also made a late change before kick-off, withdrawing Nick Easter as a precaution due to a "tight calf" and calling Fourie in from outside the World Cup squad.

Ireland missed Brian O'Driscoll's midfield presence and they were also without European player of the year Sean O'Brien, who is recovering from a groin problem.

With Wallace clearly struggling, it is now more important than ever to Ireland that O'Brien makes a swift recovery.

England came out of the blocks quickly, with Fourie involved twice, before losing their momentum and the move petered out when Wilkinson scuffed a drop goal attempt wide.

But there was nothing pedestrian about the move that began 40 metres out and led to Tuilagi's sixth-minute try.

James Haskell's powerful run from the base of a scrum put England on the front foot, the ball was moved quickly and Tuilagi beat Keith Earls on the outside.

Ronan O'Gara and Wilkinson exchanged penalties. Ireland declined two other shots at goal and then had a half-chance snuffed out when Cueto intercepted Eoin Reddan's pass five metres out from the England line.

Ireland were building pressure but then suffered the hammer blow of losing Wallace, who was driven away with his arms over his face and his World Cup ambitions in jeopardy.

Denis Leamy came on for Ireland but they were not alone in having to reshuffle things, with England forced to replace Fourie with Tom Palmer and Cueto with Armitage.

O'Gara and Wilkinson swapped penalty kicks again before Tuilagi pounced on an overthrown lineout on England's 10-metre line and crashed through Ireland's midfield.

The Leicester centre was well marshalled by his club-mate Geordan Murphy and when England moved the ball right Lawes' back-of-the-hand pass went behind Ben Foden and into touch.

The body count continued to rise as Ireland lost Jamie Heaslip six minutes before the interval but O'Gara nudged his side closer with a third penalty after England had been spotted not releasing.

Chris Ashton was sin-binned for going off his feet in the opening minute of the second half. Not only did Ireland fail to capitalise - O'Gara missed the penalty attempt - but they conceded a second try.

England's forwards built a strong platform in the shadow of the Ireland posts before Tindall stabbed a grubber kick through for Armitage, who beat Tommy Bowe to the bounce.

Ireland sent on Jonny Sexton for O'Gara as the rain began to fall but England's defence held firm and they depart for Auckland on Monday in finer fettle than their hosts.