|
First start? Ayoola Erinle
Photo: Michael Paler |
Biarritz
centre Ayoola Erinle is in line for his first England
start on Saturday, taking on the might of the All Blacks at
Twickenham.
Erinle
is expected to be named in place of Shane Geraghty as
England's under-pressure manager Martin Johnson attempts to
counter the physical threat of New Zealand’s Ma’a Nonu.
If
Erinle is named it will mark the completion of a remarkable
journey for the 6ft 3ins 29-year-old. He was born in Nigeria
but moved to England with his family when he was 18 months
old.
Feature:
Ayoola Erinle emerges from the darkness to become centre of
attention
He went
on to sign for London Wasps and Leicester before crossing
the Channel to join Biarritz in the summer, believing his
chances of an international call-up had all but passed him
by.
He had
already represented England at sevens and Saxons levels, but
didn't appear to feature in Johnson's plans. But then Mike
Tindall - named in England's original 32-man squad - was
injured, paving the way for the 17st centre to be called up
as a late replacement.
He won a
debut cap as a late replacement in the
9-18 defeat by Australia,
but did not feature in last week's
16-9 win against Argentina.
Johnson
is also expected to make two changes in the pack with the
experienced duo of Simon Shaw and Joe Worsley coming in for
Louis Deacon and Tom Croft. Mark Cueto is set to start at
full-back, with Ugo Monye - who has struggled at 15 - being
switched to his normal position on the wing.
Johnson
has also called up Matthew Tait into the squad, paving the
way for him to release Brive fly-half Andy Goode back to
France for this weekend's Top 14 matches. Other squad
members released to their clubs are Courtney Lawes, Ben
Foden (both to Northampton), Paul Sackey (London Wasps),
Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), David Flatman (Bath),
Steffon Armitage (London Irish) and Leicester trio George
Chuter, Ben Kay and Jordan Crane.
Toulon and England fly-half Jonny
Wilkinson, meanwhile, admitted England got “into a bit
of a rut” against Argentina last weekend.
Wilkinson, writing in his Times column, also said he
understood why the team had been booed off at half time but
claimed England’s improved second half showed they had the
ability to change their tactics and game-plan. “When things
go wrong there are two ways you can react. You put them
right in a situation or you crumble and just give up,” he
added.
The
30-year-old denied there was “fear factor” in the team and
said he was relishing Saturday’s game against the All
Blacks. “It is an amazing opportunity to play the best in
the world, the guys are the epitome of what we have been
talking about in terms of consistency and professionalism.
To have an opportunity to lock horns with them and see where
you stand is exactly what speeds up the process of learning
in your camp,” he said.
Wilkinson also gave a
ringing endorsement of Johnson as England team manager. “I
couldn’t think of a better person to be in that job. He
knows rugby, how to win, and he is instilling those values
and principles and energy into the environment that he
controls. Guys are benefiting from it hugely.”
