Clarke injured in win

Ben Clarke's hopes of an England Test match recall look to have been dashed by an injury he sustained during England's 55-16 win over Griqualand West yesterday.

The Bath forward, who was pushing for a place on the bench when England tackle South Africa in Bloemfontein on Saturday, suffered cracked ribs and he could struggle to play again on the tour.

"Ben was definitely in contention," said England manager Clive Woodward.

England responded superbly to Clarke's first-half departure though, scoring 45 unanswered points to overturn a 16-10 deficit.

England ran riot to win at a canter - Joe Worsley (two), Leon Lloyd (two), Will Greenwood, Steve Hanley and Steve Borthwick all scoring tries.

Outhalf Ali Hepher chipped in with 20 points from the boot, including all seven conversions, and England could feel well satisfied with their afternoon's work.

Head coach Andy Robinson singled out the contribution of Borthwick, one of his Bath proteges. "I thought he was the star of the pack," Robinson said. "He should take credit for the way he held the pack together."

There was also an impressive display by centre Greenwood, and Woodward added: "He is a proven international player. He put in some very big tackles today."

New South Wales coach Ian Kennedy is to investigate allegations of gouging and head butting against Argentina following their 27-26 win over the Waratahs in Sydney yesterday.

Kennedy said he would consider citing at least one player after watching a video replay of certain incidents. NSW props Matt Dunning and Phil Tyler were sinbinned in the second half for retaliatory punches.

The Waratahs led 16-6 early in the second half, but their hopes of victory evaporated after Dunning was binned in the 59th minute and replacement prop Tyler five minutes later.

Dunning was banished by referee Greg Hinton for punching lock German Llanes after he claimed he saw the second row kick NSW forward John Welborn in the head. Tyler was binned for punching opposing prop Roberto Grau and later alleged he had been head-butted and gouged by Argentinean players.

Kennedy said Tyler was marked under his eyes and he saw someone scrabbling at the reserve front row's face and eyes.