ENGLAND’S MANAGEMENT did not need Lawrence Dallaglio to tell them that a tough weekend in Cardiff lies ahead and their team selection yesterday confirmed they are already battening down the hatches. Joe Worsley and Mike Tindall have been around long enough not to be fazed by a passionate Valentine’s Day encounter at the Millennium Stadium and their recall to the starting XV to face Wales has served notice of the visitors’ no-frills intentions.

If nothing else, Martin Johnson wants his side to be hard to beat, on the entirely logical basis that a strong defence is the foundation upon which all good teams are built. At his best Dallaglio’s old team-mate Worsley is among the best tacklers in Europe and he will get plenty of opportunity to prove it on Saturday evening opposite the consummate Welsh openside Martyn Williams.

Tindall, for his part, will be asked to make the English midfield a no-through-road for the hosts, not least the big, fast-improving Jamie Roberts.

At 31 and 30 respectively, however, Worsley and Tindall represent yet another guerrilla raid on England’s increasingly sepia-tinted golden era. After just 55 minutes of Test rugby, last week’s debutant Steffon Armitage has been jettisoned from the 22 entirely and the most naturally gifted outside centre of his generation, Mathew Tait, has once again been left to gather splinters on the bench. It is now four years since Tait made his Test debut in Cardiff yet England still seem undecided whether he is the bee’s knees or not. At this rate, should Tindall suffer further back trouble this week, there is more chance of a start for Will Carling.

Johnson’s make-’em-sweat mindset is also pretty clear from his nominated replacements. Not only is Danny Cipriani nowhere to be seen but Shane Geraghty has also been ousted, with Leicester’s Toby Flood preferred as outhalf back-up to Andy Goode.

Gloucester’s Luke Narraway takes Worsley’s place as backrow cover, with London Irish’s Paul Hodgson overtaking Ben Foden as Harry Ellis’s understudy. Last week Foden was the next big thing in English rugby but the management already seem to have downgraded their opinion of his specialist scrum-half skills.

A review of the Italian tape did not cause Johnson to perform many somersaults – “We know as a squad we can play better than we did last week” – but he rejects Dallaglio’s criticism that England have an attitude problem. “In my experience the guys work pretty hard. How far away are we? I’m not saying everything is going to be rosy in one game’s time but we can keep improving.”

France face Scotland in Paris on Saturday having made four changes to the side which lost to Ireland in Dublin last weekend. Nicolas Mas replaces the injured prop, Benoit Lecouls, but the Sale pair, the prop Lionel Faure and the lock Sebastien Chabal, have been dropped while Cedric Heymans is recalled to the wing.

Scotland have meanwhile been hit by the news that the lock Nathan Hines needs surgery on the knee injury that kept him out against Wales. He is expected to be out for up to five weeks.

France (v Scotland)

15 Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse)

14 Maxime Medard (Toulouse)

13 Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse)

12 Florian Fritz (Toulouse)

11 Cedric Heymans (Toulouse)

10 Lionel Beauxis (St Francais)

9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde (Castres)

1 Fabien Barcella (Biarritz)

2 Dmitri Szarzewski (St Francais)

3 Nicolas Mas (Perpignan)

4 Lionel Nallet (Castres, capt)

5 Romain Millo-Chlusky (Toulouse)

6 Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse)

7 Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpelier)

8 Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz)

Replacements: R Boyoud (Dax), B Kayser (Leicester), S Chabal (Sale), L Picamoles (Montpellier), M Parra (Bourgoin), B Baby, J Malzieu (both Clermont-Auvergne).

England (v Wales) 

15 Delon Armitage (London Irish)

14 Paul Sackey (Wasps)

13 Mike Tindall (Gloucester)

12 Riki Flutey (Wasps)

11 Mark Cueto (Sale)

10 Andy Goode (Brive)

9 Harry Ellis (Leicester)

1 Andy Sheridan (Sale)

2 Lee Mears (Bath)

3 Phil Vickery (Wasps)

4 Steve Borthwick (Saracens, capt)

5 Nick Kennedy (London Irish)

6 James Haskell (Wasps)

7 Joe Worsley (Wasps)

8 Nick Easter (Harlequins)

Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), J White (Leicester), T Croft (Leicester), L Narraway (Gloucester), P Hodgson (London Irish), T Flood (Leicester), M Tait (Sale Sharks).