England's preparations
for their RBS Six Nations opener against Wales were severely
hampered this morning following the late withdrawal of
Brive's Riki Flutey.
Flutey, who has only
just returned from a serious shoulder injury, was forced out
after picking up a thigh injury in training. He has now been
replaced by Leicester Tigers fly-half Toby Flood, who will
play at inside centre.
Flutey had been set to
be one of three France-based
players to feature in England's starting XV, alongside
Toulon's Jonny Wilkinson and Stade Francais' James
Haskell (Stade Francais), with Brive's Steve Thompson
also among the replacements.
It
was the naming of centre Mathew Tait alongside Flutey in the
original line-up that initially generated most interest
after Martin Johnson unveiled his team in midweek, but that
will now be overshadowed by Flutey's enforced withdrawal.
Johnson had
been making loud noises about adopting a more positive
approach after being slammed for England’s perceived
conservatism during the November internationals, and to that
end he had welcomed the returns of creative sparks Flutey
and Armitage.
“The guys
have got to make the instinctive calls within the pressures
of a Test match and we trust them to do that. When the
opportunities are there we have to be able to see them and
take them,” he said.
“With Riki
and Delon, we picked them through all last year and they
took their chance. It was a blow to lose Riki in the autumn.
He has trained really well over the last 10 days and fitted
right back in,” added Johnson.
The loss of Flutey will
certainly be keenly felt, although Flood - who has also
returned recently from a lengthy lay-off - has been in good
form of late.
Sale Sharks star Tait,
meanwhile, will
remarkably make his first Six Nations start at Twickenham
despite winning his 33rd cap overall.
The returns
of Delon Armitage (to full-back) and Nick Easter (to number
eight) had been widely anticipated, while Danny Care gets
the nod at scrum-half.
Props Tim
Payne and David Wilson accompany hooker Dylan Hartley in the
front row, with England expected to face a huge battle up
front against Wales having lost the services of experienced
players such as Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery.
Ugo Monye
and Mark Cueto return to their favoured wing positions with
the recall of fit-again full-back Armitage, while Easter’s
return is also being seen as key to the team’s balance.
“Nick’s leadership has been vital for us. He is a strength
in that area and it is nice to get him back into the group
because he is playing well for Harlequins,” said Johnson.
Talking
about Tait, Johnson admitted that it was time to finally
give the Sale star a starting berth. “He has a great
all-round game, kicking, attacking and he is under-rated in
defence. It is good to get him on the pitch. Tait has been
through a heck of a lot. He is just coming up to 24. He is a
bright, mature guy. He understands what he has got to do. He
will play the game as he sees it.”
Johnson also
rebuffed claims by former England captain Lawrence
Dallaglio that the current squad of players was too in
awe of the coach to question his views. Johnson, instead,
said that the injury-enforced absence of several key players
– such as Flutey and Flood – had undermined the team’s
leadership structure during the November internationals,
something he expects to be rectified during the Six Nations.
“We’ve had
some pretty open and frank discussions in the last month
with the players. That’s great,” he added.
England starting XV: D Armitage (London Irish); M
Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tait (Sale Sharks), T Flood
(Leicester Tigers), U Monye (Harlequins);
J Wilkinson
(Toulon), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), D
Hartley (Northampton), D Wilson (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps), S
Borthwick (Saracens, capt),
J Haskell (Stade
Francais), L Moody (Leicester), N Easter
(Harlequins).
Replacements:
S Thompson (Brive), D Cole (Leicester), L
Deacon (Leicester), S Armitage (London Irish), P Hodgson
(London Irish), T Flood (Leicester), B Foden (Northampton).
