Armitage,
who played in England's
victories over Argentina and Georgia but was rested for the 67-3 win over
Romania in Otago last Saturday, is expected to be one of three changes to the
side to face Scotland, with a
place in the World Cup quarter-finals at stake for both sides.
Courtney
Lawes, the Northampton lock, is also set to return to the second row after
serving his two-match ban for striking Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma with his
knee. Tom Palmer will drop to the bench.
The Saracens
prop, Matt Stevens, has also recovered fully from a sprained ankle sustained
against Georgia to return at loosehead prop in place of Alex Corbisiero.
Jonny
Wilkinson will retain the fly-half position despite coming under mounting
pressure from Toby Flood, while James Haskell, England’s outstanding forward of
the tournament so far, is set to continue at No 8 in place of Nick Easter, who
missed the game against Georgia and Romania with a back injury.
It is
Armitage’s promotion that is the most eye-catching change, however. Cueto,
absent against Argentina and Georgia with a back injury sustained during
England’s final World Cup warm-up match against Ireland, looked to have
returned to top form when he crossed the line three times in the first 26
minutes against Romania.
However,
Armitage’s gain-line breaking form, which was a highlight of England’s World
Cup warm-up games, has clinched a place for the 27 year-old, who missed the Six
Nations title-winning campaign because of a ban for pushing a doping official
after a Premiership match against Bath on New Year’s Day.
Armitage
received another ban for punching Northampton fly-half Stephen Myler, which
deprived him of the chance to play for England against the Barbarians in June.
Armitage
said Saturday’s match — Scotland must win at Eden Park and by a margin of eight
points to hope to reach the quarter-finals — would be “the biggest game of his
career”. A win for England would be enough to ensure Johnson’s side top the
pool and book a likely quarter-final against France.
“This is a
World Cup. You lose, you go home. You win you progress,” said Armitage, who
will win his 26th cap on Saturday. “I am very pleased with my form. There is
still a lot more to come. It was tough sitting on the bench against Romania,
watching the two wings score a hat-trick and Ben Foden getting over the line.
“I have been
working very hard in the games before that and hopefully I get a run. If not,
as long as England are doing well, the guys are scoring tries and we are
winning that is all that matters.”
Armitage,
who was England’s first-choice full-back in 2009 before he suffered a
dislocated shoulder and then lost his place to Foden, acknowledged that
Scotland would prove to be formidable opponents despite their defeat by
Argentina.
“They are
very dangerous but we are in the same situation as them,” added Armitage. “We
will be up for it. We know how Scotland will come at us. Every year they come
and try and turn us over. We will be ready for it.”
Stevens,
meanwhile, said he was feeling “fit and strong” having recovered from an ankle
problem.
“Every game
from now on you’ve got to think about as a knockout game — they are all cup
finals up until the end of the tournament now,” said Stevens, who played in England’s
World Cup final defeat by France in 2007. “That is how you win World Cups, by
taking them one game at a time — not that I’ve won a World Cup but that’s how I
imagine you do it.”
ENGLAND (probable): B Foden (Northampton); C
Ashton (Northampton), M Tuilagi (Leicester), M Tindall (Gloucester), D Armitage
(London Irish); J Wilkinson (Toulon), B Youngs (Leicester); M Stevens
(Saracens), S Thompson (Wasps), D Cole (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), C
Lawes (Northampton), T Croft (Leicester), L Moody (Bath), J Haskell (Ricoh
Black Rams).
No comments:
Post a Comment