Moody out, Worsley in for England
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:33
Mixing it up: England manager Martin Johnson
England flank Lewis Moody has been by England manager Martin Johnson, his former Leicester teammate, for Saturday's Calcutta Cup Six Nations match away to Scotland at Murrayfield, with Joe Worsley coming in to replace him.
The Tigers flank, who lasted just 55 minutes of England's 20-16 loss to defending champions Ireland last time out, was replaced at openside by the experienced Joe Worsley.
The 32-year-old, who will be winning his 78th cap this weekend, returns to the starting XV for the first time since suffering knee ligament damage in the opening minute of England's 19-6 loss to New Zealand in November.
Johnson insisted his decision to bring in Worsley, widely regarded as England's best defensive back-row, was not a criticism of Moody but merely a case of making a specific selection for the challenged posed by Scotland.
"It was a very tough call," he told reporters at England's training base, "It is not a reflection at all on how Lewis has played.
"It is more of a reflection on the strength and depth of the players we have in the squad.
"We felt it was the best call to put Joe in the starting team and have Lewis on the bench to make an impact.
"They are two different players. They can both play six and seven. There is not a weakness in Lewis's game but Joe's defence is good and his ball-carrying is particularly strong."
"It was the toughest selection we have had as a group. That is not because we lost the last game but the squad we have now puts pressure on players to perform."
Johnson has made just one other - this one enforced - change to his starting side. Louis Deacon continues in the second row after he replaced Simon Shaw in the opening minutes against the Irish following the veteran lock's shoulder injury.
There are changes on the bench with uncapped Leicester scrumhalf Ben Youngs, whose father Nick won six caps for England at scrumhalf between 1983 to 1984, called onto the bench in place of London Irish's Paul Hodgson.
Also among the replacements is Youngs's former England Under-20 teammate Courtney Lawes, who won his first cap as a replacement against Australia last November and now takes the bench spot previously occupied by Worsley.
Meanwhile, 2003 World Cup winner Steve Thompson returns as the replacement hooker instead of Lee Mears.
Defeat by Ireland ended England's hopes of a Grand Slam this season, as well as the Triple Crown, although the Six Nations title remains a possibility.
Scotland, whose former England coach Andy Robinson announced their side earlier on Tuesday, have yet to win in this season's Six Nations.
But they have beaten England in the last two Calcutta Cup clashes at Murrayfield in what is rugby union's oldest international fixture, dating back to 1871.
Team:
England: 15 Delon Armitage; 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait,
12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye; 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Danny Care; 8 Nick Easter, 7 Joe Worsley, 6 James Haskell; 5 Steve Borthwick (captain), 4 Louis Deacon; 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne
Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Lewis Moody, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Ben Foden
Date: Saturday, March 13
Kick-off: 17.00 GMT
Venue: Murrayfield
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
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