Wilko injury has Johnson in tears
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:13
Danny Cipriani might be back in the flyhalf fold, but new England manager Martin Johnson bemoaned the recent "upsetting" injury setback to England's prodigal son, Jonny Wilkinson.
After a dislocated knee-cap suffered during Newcastle's Premiership clash against Gloucester on September 30, the ensuing surgery has left Wilkinson with a four-month recovery period - which rules him out of the November Internationals.
Johnson will thus be without an experienced points-scorer at Twickeham against the southern hemisphere greats, although Cipriani's comeback from an horrific ankle injury should see the young No.10 promoted from the Saxons and into Johnson's 32-man Elite group.
"It's great for Danny to be back," Johnson told sportinglife.com.
"I spoke to him on the Monday after he had hurt himself and he was already talking about getting back. We have been in contact the whole way with him, as we would do with any injured player.
"Danny has worked incredibly hard, as have the people around him, but the day before he comes back, Jonny [Wilkinson] gets hurt.
"It is very upsetting when you see that for a guy who has had a lot of injuries during the last four or five years to get hurt again.
"But he's a strong guy. He's had surgery, which has gone well, and we look forward to him coming back," he added.
Fortunately for Johnson however, England are blessed with some high-quality alternatives for the pivotal position.
"The No.10 position is very competitive - there is some good depth there," said Johnson.
"Jonny is obviously the most experienced guy there, but Toby Flood is playing well at Leicester, Olly Barkley can play 10 and 12, so can Shane Geraghty, and Danny's back as well, with Andy Goode and Ryan Lamb in the Saxons."
Although England's noteworthy November Tests would be against the Tri-Nations heavyweights, Johnson knows a game against the Pacific Islands will come with it's own challenges, in his first match as team manager.
"With the teams we are playing against, you want to keep the ball away from them, which starts in the first game against the Pacific Islands," Johnson told the rfu.com podcast.
"Those guys will look to play off poor kicks, from broken play and turnover ball. They will kill you if you do that.
"They [Pacific Islands] don't play that many games. We know the players they've got, but you have less to go on in terms of the style they will play.
"We do know they've got some great athletes in players like [Seilala] Mapusua and [Sailosi] Tagicakibau, who can really run the ball and are powerful and strong.
"They will want to come and play. They will feel they've got nothing to lose in a way, coming to Twickenham.
"They will be dangerous - it is not a warm-up game, it is a full-on Test match."
