Rugby World Cup - news round-up:England's Andrew Sheridan has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup with a shoulder injury, the Rugby Football Union have announced. The prop will return home for treatment, subject to final approval from the tournament's medical director, and will be replaced in England's 30-man squad.
England manager Martin Johnson is yet to decide on the identity of Sheridan's replacement.
It is the second blow suffered by JOhnson and England camp today after Courtney Lawes was banned for two matches after being found guilty of recklessly striking Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma with his knee.
The lock was the first player to be banned at the Rugby World Cup and will miss the matches against Romania and Georgia.
The Northampton player entered a not guilty plea when he appeared before a disciplinary hearing in Auckland today, having been cited following England’s 13-9 win against the Pumas in Dunedin.
The offence carries a guideline suspension of between three and 12 weeks and Lawes’ offence was deemed to be ‘low end’. The independent judicial officer Terry Willis, from Australia, reduced the ban from three to two weeks on account of Lawes’ “excellent disciplinary record and remorse”.
Johnson was clearly disappointed with the verdict but the early indications from the red rose camp were that they would not appeal.
“He has dived in to make what he thinks is a try-saving tackle and we thought any contact with the knees was incidental to him trying to do that in a fast-paced game,” said Johnson. “They obviously saw it a little bit differently.”
France v Canada:Aurelien Rougerie and Francois Trinh-Duc were two of the few survivors from France's stuttering opening victory over Japan as coach Marc Lievremont made wholesale changes for Sunday's rugby World Cup Pool A clash with Canada.
Hooker William Servat and outhalf Trinh-Duc were the only players named by Lievremont in the same positions from the opening 47-21 bonus point win against the Asian and Pacific Nations Cup champions on Saturday.
"I expressed doubts of my willingness to rotate. But the 30 players have pleased me in the build-up and the warm-up matches," Lievremont said. "I needed to give game time to certain players and to give them the opportunity to play in the most decisive and difficult matches. It was logical to have another look at everyone."
The coach did retain Rougerie but switched him from centre to the left wing to take the place of Vincent Clerc, who shifts to the right. Captain Thierry Dusautoir was left out of the matchday 22 with Fulgence Ouedraogo coming in on the side of the scrum and Rougerie taking over the armband.
France: D Traille; V Clerc, D Marty, M Mermoz, A Rougerie; F Trinh-Duc, M Parra; JB Poux, W Servat, L Ducalcon; P Pape, R Millo-Chluski; F Ouedraogo, J Bonnaire, L Picamoles. Replacements: G Guirado, F Barcella, J Pierre, I Harinordoquy, D Yachvili, F Estebanez, M Medard.
Argentina v Romania:Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has been forced to reshuffle his back division for the clash with Romania on Saturday. Marcelo Bosch starts at outside centre in place of Gonzalo Tiesi, who has been ruled out of the tournament after suffering knee ligament damage in the 13-9 defeat to England.
Martin Rodriguez moves from full-back to inside centre, allowing Santiago Fernandez to move in one place to fly-half while Felipe Contepomi recovers from bruised ribs. As a result, Lucas Amorisino starts at full-back and the Pumas will be captained by number eight Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe for the seventh time.
Argentina have picked the same forward pack that dominated England for large parts of the opening game.
Argentina: L Amorosino; G Camacho, M Bosch, M Rodriguez, H Agulla; S Fernandez; N Vergallo; R Roncero, M Ledesma, J Figallo, M Carizza, P Albacete, J Farias Cabello, JM Leguizamon, JM Fernandez Lobbe. Replacements: A Creevy, M Scelzo, M Galarza, A Campos, A Lalanne, N Sanchez, J Imhoff.
