Rugby:England's backrow resources have been stretched before they even depart for the World Cup after Tom Wood was forced to pull out of tomorrow's final warm-up international against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
Wood, the Northampton flanker, has suffered what England manager Martin Johnson described as a “mild calf strain” and been replaced on the bench by Stade Francais lock Tom Palmer.
England opted for only five specialist loose forwards in their 30-man World Cup squad and are also without squad captain Lewis Moody, who is still recovering from a knee injury.
As a result, starting lock Courtney Lawes will provide the backrow cover while England go into the game with two specialist secondrows on the bench in Palmer and the veteran Simon Shaw.
“Tom wants to play and he’s annoyed that he’s not playing but where we are and where we are going, it’s the right call for him not to play,” said Johnson.
England are also monitoring the fitness of number eight Nick Easter, who is understood to have had a scan on a suspected tight calf.
As with Wood, and with Chris Ashton when he rolled his ankle ahead of the Wales game a fortnight ago, Johnson is unlikely to take any risks this close to the World Cup. But the England management are confident Easter will be fit to play.
If not, the obvious call would be to summon the Sale flanker Hendre Fourie, who missed out on World Cup selection, over to Dublin.
Johnson views the Ireland game as the perfect launch-pad for England’s campaign in New Zealand, which begins against Argentina on September 10th.
England fielded mixed-and-matched teams in their warm-up matches against Wales but there is a different air to this game, there is something more at stake.
Five months ago, England had their Grand Slam dreams wrecked by Ireland at the Aviva Stadium. This is a revenge mission.
“It is a good opportunity to come back and do it,” said Johnson. “We don’t have to wait two years. It is a lot of the same people involved who are coming back to have a crack.
“We want to go out and have a bloody good game of rugby tomorrow - tough, skilful, fast - to get us as battle-hardened as we can be for the first World Cup pool game. We have said all along we are not treating these as warm-up games.”
Johnson believes a full-blown Test against Ireland a fortnight before the World Cup will not only prepare England physically but mentally for what lies ahead.
He has warned his men to focus solely on beating Ireland and block out everything else - including the very real prospect of injury.
“You don’t win World Cups by thinking about World Cups,” said Johnson. “You have got to forget about the World Cup even when you are playing in it. How you handle it is a huge part of it.”
That is where starting with experienced 2003 World Cup veterans Wilkinson, Steve Thompson and Mike Tindall will come into play both tomorrow and in the tournament.
“Sometimes you have to go through it. That team in 2003 had lost Grand Slams, you couldn’t have written what that team had been through. It was horrible,” said Johnson.
“Getting called ‘chokers’ and never feeling that happy with life. It kept us unfulfilled.
“We all know how big the games are when you are there but if you can separate that from what you are doing on the field, that is the best thing you can do.
“You are still playing on a rectangle of grass. You have to play with that angst and desperation all the time, it makes you play well. Being happy and content is not a place for elite sportsmen to be.”
B Foden (Northampton); C Ashton (Northampton), M Tuilagi (Leicester), M Tindall (Gloucester, capt), M Cueto (Sale); J Wilkinson (Toulon), R Wigglesworth (Saracens); A Sheridan (Sale), S Thompson (Wasps) D Cole (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), C Lawes (Northampton), T Croft (Leicester), J Haskell (Black Rams, Japan), N Easter (Harlequins).
England (v Ireland):
Replacements:D Hartley (Northampton), M Stevens (Saracens), S Shaw (Unattached), T Palmer (Stade Francais), J Simpson (Wasps), T Flood (Leicester), D Armitage (London Irish).
