Armitage faces Pumas as Cueto fails to recover in time

ENGLAND HAVE been forced to alter their plans and ask Delon Armitage to start on the wing against Argentina this weekend in place of Mark Cueto. The Sale player has been struggling with a back problem and may be out for a further two weeks.

With Lewis Moody, the captain, also nursing a nagging knee injury, Cueto’s failure to recover is another setback for Martin Johnson. Not only is the 31-year-old Cueto the most experienced member in the back three – he featured in the 2007 World Cup final – his unavailability leaves Johnson almost as short of specialist wings as openside flankers.

Johnson, who was set to confirm his team officially in the early hours of this morning, is aware he took a calculated gamble in flying to New Zealand knowing Moody and Cueto were short of fitness.

England cannot afford to carry many more passengers, particularly if they suffer further injuries against the Pumas.

Should Cueto be ruled out of the tournament at any stage, his most likely replacement would be the young Gloucester winger Charlie Sharples.

Armitage, on the positive side, has been showing signs of rediscovering his best form and scored a try after coming on as a replacement for Cueto in Dublin last month. The London Irish man has sufficient pace not to be embarrassed out wide and, having played fullback for most of his career, will have no qualms about fielding any high balls which Argentina may hoist in his direction.

It almost certainly explains his selection ahead of Matt Banahan for this particular encounter.

As Johnson was insisting barely 24 hours earlier that all his players were training fully, England supporters are entitled to be somewhat confused. As of yesterday evening, the management were still officially refusing to confirm or deny Cueto actually has a problem; their cloak-and-dagger attitude when it comes to issuing accurate injury bulletins does them few favours.

England cannot afford to start slowly against the Pumas, whose powerful set-piece and mauling game remain genuine weapons.

“We’ve got to be right on it,” Johnson said. “They’re a good team.”

Guardian Service