Rugby:Lewis Moody has been declared fit to captain a new-look England team for Sunday's Rugby World Cup match against Georgia. The inclusion of Moody, who returns after recovering from a knee injury, is one of nine changes following the 13-9 win over Argentina.
Tom Wood, Shontayne Hape, Toby Flood, Ben Youngs, Simon Shaw, Tom Palmer, Matt Stevens and Dylan Hartley also come into the side with Joe Simpson poised to make his debut off the bench. “It’s good to have Lewis back,” said England manager Martin Johnson. “It’s a chance for a lot of guys to come and play.
“It was always the plan that people would have to play and give them a chance in the second half of the pool and hopefully beyond.” Moody has managed just five games since damaging his knee in Bath’s win over Aironi in January with the all-action flanker having aggravating the problem in the first warm-up game with Wales.
However Moody will replace James Haskell on the openside, with Wood named on the blindside flank and Nick Easter retained at number eight. Stevens and Hartley come in for the injured Alex Sheridan and benched Steve Thompson in the front row, while Shaw and Palmer team up in the second row. There is little surprise to see Leicester duo Youngs and Flood renew their half-back partnership, while Hape comes in for the rested Mike Tindall.
Alex Corbisiero, Tom Croft, Haskell, Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Banahan make up the bench alongside Wasps scrum-half Simpson and hooker Thompson. “We are excited about getting back to Dunedin,” added Johnson. “It was a great game last week, great atmosphere, an intense World Cup match, a real tough battle. It was almost like you were in sudden-death already. That’s great, that’s what you want, to be battle-hardened as you go through.”
England:B Foden; C Ashton, M Tuilagi, S Hape, D Armitage; T Flood, B Youngs; M Stevens, D Hartley, D Cole; S Shaw, T Palmer; T Wood, L Moody, N Easter. Replacements: S Thompson, A Corbisiero, T Croft, J Haskell, J Simpson, J Wilkinson, M Banahan.
