TWICKENHAM MATCH:ENGLAND WILL decide today whether to throw the uncapped Chris Ashton into the Six Nations fray against Ireland at the expense of Mark Cueto, who missed training yesterday with a stomach bug. Should the Sale winger fail to make a swift recovery, the 22-year-old Ashton is poised to join the ranks of former rugby league players who have won representative honours in both codes.
As the country’s leading try-scorer, the Wigan-born wing has looked sharp with 18 tries in 21 games for Northampton in all competitions. The loss of the versatile Cueto, even so, would be an untimely blow for England, who have already endured a fair amount of illness-related disruption during the championship. Steve Borthwick, Toby Flood, Simon Shaw and Shontayne Hape have all suffered from stomach complaints in recent weeks.
With more headlines relating to Danny Cipriani’s strained relationship with the England management also floating around the camp, it has been another week of unwanted distractions for Martin Johnson.
Anecdotal tales about Cipriani’s less-than-wholehearted contribution for England Saxons in Italy this month have been circulating for a while and published allegations that he “mocked” Johnson and cheered for the opposition while watching the England-Wales game on television with his team-mates are unlikely to see the outhalf return from the Test wilderness any time soon.
The 22-year-old has just committed himself to a two-year contract with the Melbourne Rebels in next year’s newly enlarged Super 15 competition but insisted yesterday he still dreams of representing his country in next year’s World Cup.
“It’s a move I believe will prolong my England career,” he said. “I think I could be involved with England with him (Johnson) still in charge. There have been no major arguments, just differences of opinion occasionally. I wouldn’t say I’m a rebel at all.”
There remains an overwhelming sense, though, that Cipriani and England are destined to remain estranged bedfellows unless there are major shifts in attitude on both sides. The Ireland game will certainly test the true depth of England’s mini-revival and Borthwick went out of his way yesterday to praise the under-fire Jonny Wilkinson.
“I know how fantastically significant his contribution is to this team,” said Borthwick. “I can’t praise him highly enough.”
England’s captain also took deliberate aim at those who criticised his post-match television interview in Rome in which he said that aspects of his side’s performance against Italy had been “fantastic”. Lawrence Dallaglio, among others, felt Borthwick should have been more honest about England’s failings.
“I still stand by the fact that there were lots of good things,” he said. “Too often we play those down and look immediately for the negatives. The person who asked me the question is known for being slightly negative and I like to be a bit more positive. We know as a team what we are trying to achieve. All we can do is work to get better. We can make all the line-breaks we want but if we don’t cross the try-line they count for nothing.”
Borthwick will be leading England for the 19th consecutive Test but the former Ireland captain Keith Wood is backing the visitors to bounce back from their heavy defeat to France in Paris.
“The truth is that the idea of ‘Fortress Twickenham’ does not really exist any more and I think Ireland will win,” said Wood. “There is too much in the team and they do not want that negative feeling again.”
