England's head coach, Brian Ashton, threw his latest Six Nations curve ball yesterday by choosing the uncapped Harlequins flanker Nick Easter to start against Italy on Saturday in place of Joe Worsley, who is suffering from a neck injury.
To a Twickenham crowd more used to English back rows featuring such household names as Lawrence Dallaglio and Richard Hill, the selection of the 28-year-old Easter will raise some eyebrows. At Harlequins, however, he is highly rated and Ashton has opted to promote the 6ft 4in forward on the evidence of just 20 minutes of representative rugby against Italy A in Exeter last Friday night.
Easter's call-up is one of two changes to England's starting line-up from the side which beat Scotland 42-20. Subject to a fitness test tomorrow on his injured groin, Iain Balshaw will reclaim the full-back jersey from his Gloucester team-mate Olly Morgan and there is a further tweak on the bench where Bristol's scrumhalf Shaun Perry is preferred to Peter Richards.
The energetic Easter will have little option but to make an instant impression if he wants to force his way into England's World Cup squad later this year. The backrow is always a highly competitive area and both Pat Sanderson and Chris Jones will be aggrieved to be overlooked.
Ashton, however, is clearly determined to freshen up the squad he inherited from Andy Robinson. "Nick has had a very good season in the Premiership and he played in the successful England Saxons side that beat Italy last Friday," insisted Ashton.
"Joe Worsley has not fully recovered from a neck injury he sustained on Saturday, but we believe he will be fit and available for selection for the Ireland game."
Meanwhile, Jonny Wilkinson's close friend and confidant at Newcastle, Steve Black, has predicted the outhalf will become an even better player over the course of the next five years. "In my opinion he won't peak until he is somewhere around 32," said Black, the Falcons' fitness and conditioning coach.
"As always, Jonny has invested a huge amount of time and dedication into coming back better than ever and I think the results of that were evident against Scotland. People say he has only played a small number of games since the World Cup, but in his head he has played thousands.
"While he might not have been out on the pitch as much as he would have liked in the last few years, the work has been getting done behind the scenes and the drive is stronger than ever. From the moment he was passed fit by the medics there was never any doubt in my mind that he was ready to come straight back on the pitch. In fact, it is the safest and the best place for him."
Guardian Service
ENGLAND (v Italy, Twickenham, Saturday): I Balshaw (Gloucester); J Lewsey (Wasps), M Tindall (Gloucester), A Farrell (Saracens), J Robinson (Sale Sharks); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), H Ellis (Leicester); P Freshwater (Perpignan), G Chuter (Leicester), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), L Deacon (Leicester), D Grewcock (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins), M Lund (Sale Sharks), M Corry (Leicester). Replacements: L Mears (Bath), J White (Leicester), T Palmer (Wasps), T Rees (Wasps), S Perry (Bristol), T Flood (Newcastle), M Tait (Newcastle).
FRANCE (squad v Ireland, Croke Park, Sunday): Forwards: R Ibanez (Wasps, capt), S Bruno (Sale), O Milloud (Bourgoin), P De Villiers (Stade Francais), S Marconnet (both Stade Francais), L Nallet (Castres), P Pape (Castres), J Thion (Biarritz), S Betsen (Biarritz), J Bonnaire (Bourgoin), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz), S Chabal (Sale).
Backs: P Mignoni (Clermont-Auvergne), D Yachvili (Biarritz), D Skrela (Stade Francais), L Beauxis (Stade Francais), Y Jauzion (Toulouse), D Marty (Perpignan), C Heymans (Toulouse), C Dominici (Stade Francais), V Clerc (Toulouse), C Poitrenaud (Toulouse).
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