England gamble on stars’ fitness
STUART LANCASTER faces a tense wait before assessing the health of an England squad beset by illness and injury after deciding to send more than half of his players into action with their clubs.
The interim head coach has released 18 players — 17 voluntarily in the quest for match practice and one, Ben Morgan, against his will. Lancaster’s first-choice No 8 is required by his Welsh region, the Scarlets, for their game at home to Connacht tomorrow and, under IRB regulations, Lancaster was forced to approve his return.
This exodus comes amid a pile-up of negative medical bulletins. Six of the 32-man squad missed training in Loughborough yesterday, including fly-half sensation Owen Farrell. Chris Ashton did take part in training but he too succumbed to illness in the afternoon.
Another four players, Calum Clark, Jordan Turner- Hall, Mike Brown and Joe Marler, could only watch their teammates go through their drills due to a variety of niggles, while lock Courtney Lawes was absent, having been dispatched to hospital for a scan. Lancaster confirmed the towering Saint had shin- splints but the hope was the scan would reveal the extent of the problem.
‘It is a bit of an investigation,’ he said. ‘He has seen the specialist today so we will find out later.
‘He trained yesterday but Tom Wood trained right the way up to his scan (on a toe injury) and suddenly he is in a protective boot.’
With just 10 days to go until the next instalment of England’s RBS Six Nations campaign, against France in Paris, Lancaster must hope the 18 players on duty this weekend come through unscathed — knowing it is a fine line between keeping them sharp and exposing them to the risk of injury.
‘We believe in order to play international rugby you need to be battle-hardened,’ he said.
Gloucester captain and No 8 Luke Narraway has announced he is moving to Perpignan this summer, making him ineligible for England selection.