Robbo receives injury reprieve
Andy Robinson was in an upbeat mood following the good news that the list of injured England internationals is decreasing steadily.
The first England training session of the season only saw 17 out of a 40-man elite squad on the paddock, with that number only slightly improving last week at 23.
But England have now been boosted with the return of 20-year-old centre Mathew Tait, who has fully recovered from cartilage surgery to his knee. 2003 World Cup winners Lawrence Dallaglio and Phil Vickery are also fit and have resumed playing with London Wasps, aiding their club to a 23-13 victory over London Irish on Sunday in the EDF Energy Cup.
Utility back Andy Farrell has likewise been instructed to play a few games for his side Saracens before joining the England training squad. Robinson was understandably pleased with this recovery rate ahead of the big match-up against the All Blacks on 5 November.
“Over the next month there will be a lot of competition for places and it’s great to have these players available ahead of selection for the New Zealand game,” Robinson said.
“We had a really positive and productive three days last week and with more players able to train now, we are looking forward to our final day together.”
The Springboks play the Poms on 18 and 25 November, and so will be keeping a close collective eye on that fluctuating England injury list. The Boks have rediscovered some winning form by beating both the All Blacks and the Wallabies in the final two matches of the Vodacom Tri-Nations, and are also the favourites to beat Ireland at home.
But having not won a Test at Twickenham since 1997, they travel to London as underdogs, and will thus take any advantage they can over the English.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:55 am
No1 winna winaa!
October 10th, 2006 at 9:58 am
Boks to beat Poms by 13.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:02 am
Boks will beat the Poms by 50 if they play Mike Catt again
October 10th, 2006 at 10:04 am
i hope we beat the bloody english in both matches convincingly
October 10th, 2006 at 10:06 am
We should beat them KIR if they play like they did on tour, but England are a different team at Twickenham…
October 10th, 2006 at 10:26 am
I predict more misery for the boks. We always save our worst performance of the year for them.
Why the hell don’t we play them in SA anymore??
October 10th, 2006 at 10:39 am
Its no accident we always play our worst game of the year against them. We always take them on at their strenghts (beat them up front) and then don’t know what plan B is when this doesn’t work – so we get frustrated and lose disipline!
SA coaches always feel complelled to play it tight in the NH against the masters of ‘up the jumper’ play.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:45 am
This Andy Farrell saga is a big f-up for the ERU. They bought him over to be the English inside centre at the next World Cup – only for his first season to be wiped out by injury. Now that he’s over his injury, his club (Saracens) have decided to convert him into a loose forward… Go figure.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:52 am
Boys,my ticket is in my pocket,I have invested a lot of loot for it,dont dissapoint me.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:58 am
Who the hell is the ERU quinnyshark.
England to lose to NZ (just) on the 5th and then beat the boks twice.
Argentina to run England close as they will play a B team.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:09 am
We better win….. if england lose all their games in November i feel that it will be enough to end Andy Robinsons career and put the pressure of the press right on their shoulders cracking their self confidence before the world cup..
Some might say that England are a different nut at home, but i think this England setup at the moment is a ticking time bomb. A few losses in a row to NZ and then SA should gut them out of contention for the WC.
Go the Bokke..
October 10th, 2006 at 11:57 am
10
ERU = my shorthand for English Rugby Union, although there’s prob an “F” in the official acronym.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
The injury situation is not nearly as bad as they are reporting it to be. Most of the guys who didn’t train are fit enough to play if there was a test next week. Most of them are merely niggles after playing for clubs at the weekend. I reckon most players are sore on a Monday after a match (esp. if they are a forward and have been doing their job).
Amusing that you report Andy Farrell is a utility back – considering the Saracens/RFU paid £700k for him and they don’t know if he is a forward or a back. Sarries are playing him at 6 (Eddie Jones’ theory at work there) but it looks (and sounds) like England see him at 12.
Other guy mentioned, Tait, is a really talented guy. Really exciting backline player (now they just need to figure out how to get the ball to him).
October 10th, 2006 at 2:29 pm
can you guys post the 40-man squad please?
October 10th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
He is also hoping to have at least 1 rugby player in that squad by the end of next week.
October 10th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
12. It is the RFU (Rugby Football Union) there is no England in it since it was the first union.