The starting 15 overwhelmed France 40-6, their second of two warm-up fixtures which took place earlier this month.
Zoe Aldcroft continues to captain the team from blindside flanker, with No. 8 Alex Matthews and openside Sadia Kabeya alongside her in the back row and Abbie Ward and Morwenna Talling the starting locks.
The pack is completed by a powerful front row of Hannah Botterman, Amy Cokayne and Maud Muir.
Behind the scrum, half-backs Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison will look to dictate play, with Meg Jones and Tatyana Heard in the centres.
Jess Breach and Abby Dow line-up on the wings, with full-back Ellie Kildunne, the reigning women's World Rugby player of the year, looking to add an exceptional tally of 41 tries in 53 Tests a member of a dynamic back three.
Tournament debutants Kelsey Clifford, Maddie Feaunati and Emma Sing are named as replacements, with veteran Emily Scarratt also on the bench ahead of what could be her 119th cap.
But there is no place in the matchday 23 for former captain Marlie Packer.
'Embrace the occasion'
Sunderland is best known as a football rather than rugby hotbed, with the Stadium of Light, the venue for Friday's match, home to the northeast city's Premier League team.
But with officials keen to showcase the national appeal of the Red Roses, their pool matches are being spread around England rather than just taken to traditional rugby heartlands.
And with 40,000 tickets sold, Friday's fixture will be played in front of a record crowd for an opening game of a Women's Rugby World Cup.
"We have been building nicely into the tournament and now we're excited to get our campaign underway,” Mitchell said as he announced his team on Wednesday.
"Sunderland have been a great host city thus far and we know it'll be a record crowd for a Women’s Rugby World Cup opening match which shows the appetite for rugby in this region and for the competition ahead."
The New Zealander added: "We want to embrace the occasion whilst understanding we have to remain where our feet are and earn the right to progress through the pool stage."
Host nation England head into the event as favourites, having lost only once in their past 58 matches - a defeat by New Zealand in the Covid-delayed 2022 World Cup final.
In spite of winning six successive Six Nations Grand Slams, have also lost five of the last six World Cup finals to New Zealand.
Pool A also features Australia and Samoa, who meet on Saturday, with the top two in each of the four groups going through to the quarter-finals.
England team (15-1)
Ellie Kildunne; Abby Dow, Megan Jones, Tatyana Heard, Jess Breach; Zoe Harrison, Natasha Hunt; Alex Matthews, Sadia Kabeya, Zoe Aldcroft (capt); Abbie Ward, Morwenna Talling; Maud Muir, Amy Cokayne, Hannah Botterman
Replacements: Lark Atkin-Davies, Kelsey Clifford, Sarah Bern, Rosie Galligan, Maddie Feaunati, Lucy Packer, Emily Scarratt, Emma Sing
Coach: John Mitchell (NZL)