Murphy makes a third successive start for Ireland A as they come up against an England Saxons side a trio of Leicester Tigers.
Bath's Stuart Hooper, who led the Saxons to their 28-20 victory over Argentina Jaguars in their first pool match, and Gloucester back row Luke Narraway return to the Saxons line-up, while fellow forwards Joe Ward and Dean Schofield feature for the first time in the tournament after recovering from injury.
"There have been some difficult selection decisions,” said Saxons head coach Stuart Lancaster. “I have been delighted with all the players and how they have responded. It says a tremendous amount about the character in the squad.
"We respect Ireland A with the quality of players and management they have over here. We have some young players and some very experienced Premiership players and our challenge has been to mould then into a team.
"We have had two tough games which we have leant a lot. Whatever the outcome, they are a committed group of players who will do their best and be proud to represent England in the final."
The Churchill Cup Final is shown live on Sky Sports 2 on Sunday (kick-off is at 9.30pm UK time).
England Saxons:
15 Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
14 Noah Cato (Saracens)
13 Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)
12 Brad Barritt (Saracens)
11 Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers)
10 Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
9 Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons)
1 David Flatman (Bath Rugby)
2 Rob Webber (London Wasps)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 Stuart Hooper (Bath Rugby)
5 Nick Kennedy (London Irish)
6 Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons, captain)
7 Ben Woods (Leicester Tigers)
8 Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
Replacements:
16 Tom Mercey (Saracens)
17 Joe Ward (London Wasps)
18 Dean Schofield (Sale Sharks)
19 Tom Guest (Harlequins)
20 Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
21 Danny Cipriani (London Wasps)
22 Shane Geraghty (London Irish)
Ireland A
15 Felix Jones (Seapoint/Leinster)
14 Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
13 Fergus McFadden (UCD/Leinster)
12 Keith Matthews (Buccaneers/Connacht)
11 Johne Murphy (Leicester Tigers)
10 Jonathan Sexton (St Mary's College/Leinster)
9 Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)
1 Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
3 Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
4 Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
5 Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
6 Neil Best (Northampton Saints) (capt)
7 Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster)
8 Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)
Replacements:
16 Denis Fogarty (Cork Constitution/Munster)
17 Bryan Young (Ballymena/Ulster)
18 Trevor Hogan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
19 John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
20 Simon Keogh (OId Belvedere/Leinster)
21 Niall O'Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
22 James Downey (Northampton Saints)
