England wing Jason Robinson has been ruled out of tomorrow's Six Nations clash against Ireland at Croke Park, while outhalf Jonny Wilkinson remains a serious concern.
Robinson who has scored three tries in this campaign, has not recovered from a neck injury suffered in training at Bath University on Wednesday. He will be replaced in the starting lineup by uncapped Harlequins wing David Strettle.
England head coach Brian Ashton could have promoted Mathew Tait off the bench, but he has opted to throw 23-year-old straight in at the deep end.
"The medics and Jason himself decided he wasn't going to play," coach Brian Ashton told a news conference in Dublin this morning. "You would never, ever risk a player with a neck injury in a game of this magnitude, so he's out definitely."
Ashton is still awaiting a definitive medical bulletin on outhhalf Wilkinson, who missed training yesterday due to a tight right hamstring.
Wilkinson, who has scored 42 of England's 62 points in the tournament so far, is just two games into his international comeback following a succession of injury problems since the 2003 World Cup.
England's record points scorer missed his club Newcastle's match against Bristol last Sunday because of what the Falcons termed "bumps, bruises and stains".
His absence tomorrow would be a hammer blow for the world champions.
"As far as Jonny Wilkinson goes, he's being assessed as we speak...so I'll wait and see what the medical report is on him but there's still 36 hours, or something similar to that, before the game starts, a lot can happen in that time," Ashton said.
The coach predicted that the first appearance of an English side in Croke Park woule be a "momentous" occasion.
"We're just looking forward to going out and being allowed to play on the pitch tomorrow with Ireland in what should be, hopefully, a pretty momentous test match."
England took the precaution of calling up 35-year-old London Irish back Mike Catt into the squad that arrived in Dublin last night.
If Wilkinson is sidelined, then his 21-year-old Newcastle colleague Toby Flood is likely to start, with Catt going onto the bench.
