England shows no mercy to Georgia

RUGBY WORLD CUP: England could have shuffled into this World Cup by resting their main men against Georgia but Clive Woodward is not messing about.

The last thing the coach wants is a rusty team for the pivotal game against South Africa and yesterday he announced a full-strength side for the opening Pool C encounter on Sunday.

Allowing for hairline selections at scrumhalf, where Matt Dawson edges out Kyran Bracken, and in the back row, where Lewis Moody has to settle for a seat on the bench, Woodward has shown absolutely no mercy towards the impoverished Georgians, who make up for their lack of Test pedigree with big, strapping forwards accustomed to throwing their weight around.

Woodward expects a tough, physical encounter - "I don't think for one second it's going to be a rout" - yet had no option other than to field the likes of Lawrence Dallaglio and Phil Vickery, who have not played a minute of competitive rugby since June 21st.

Even Dawson has not started a Test since the grand slam decider in Dublin in March, injury having ruled him out of the summer win over New Zealand in Wellington.

Accordingly Woodward wants the Argentinian referee Pablo Deluca to be vigilant in forestalling fisticuffs of the kind that punctuated the Georgians' 31-22 warm-up defeat to Italy last month.

"All coaches know that if players step out of line they're going to miss the rest of the tournament, or at least a few games," cautioned the coach.

He could do without Jonny Wilkinson, the recipient of a good luck message from a certain David Beckham this week, being invalided out of the World Cup by a crass late tackle.

"I can't believe any team would actively try and take other players out," Woodward said.

"It just doesn't happen in the world game. There's 26 cameras out there so you can't get away with it. This is the showpiece of rugby union and I don't think any player or coach would even think about entering a game with that sort of intent."

His coaching partner Andy Robinson is also more concerned with the legitimate forward threat Georgia may pose.

"They're certainly built for scrummaging. We're expecting a physical contest up front but I don't think it'll turn into a fight in any shape or form."

England, nevertheless, would not be England without some minor grievance and currently it is the view of the Wallabies' defensive coach John Muggleton that England's forwards are too old and might be footsore by the knockout stages.

"It's amazing to me how many coaches of other teams want to talk about England," Woodward responded.

"I don't even know the age of the Australian forwards. I don't even care how old they are."

No one will run on more eagerly this weekend, however, than the 35-year-old Jason Leonard, who should come off the bench to win his 107th England cap and, thanks to his five Tests for the Lions, establish himself as the most capped rugby player in history.

He currently stands level with France's Philippe Sella on 111, having started his career in an era when no self-respecting England international prop ever had Georgia on his mind.

His more youthful front-row colleague Steve Thompson wishes some of the critics could attend England training and see what the older generation put in.

"At fitness tests they tend to beat me," he said. "You see some of them and they're running around like lunatics. Some of them are playing the best rugby they've ever played in their life. Jason Leonard is a freak, to be honest. He's got more skills now than he's ever had before."

ENGLAND (v Georgia, Perth, Sunday, kick-off 1 p.m. BST): J Lewsey (Wasps); J Robinson (Sale), M Tindall (Bath), W Greenwood (Harlequins), B Cohen (Northampton); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), M Dawson (Northampton); T Woodman (Gloucester), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Gloucester), M Johnson (Leicester, capt), B Kay (Leicester), R Hill (Saracens), N Back (Leicester), L Dallaglio (Wasps).

Replacements: Regan (Leeds), Leonard (Harlequins), Grewcock (Bath), Moody (Leicester), Bracken (Saracens), Grayson (Northampton), Balshaw (Bath).

Guardian Service

Meanwhile, the South African captain Corne Krige insists his Springbok side are revelling in their underdog status.

The man who labelled the England skipper Martin Johnson "one of the dirtiest captains in world rugby" reckons South Africa have arrested their decline just in time to spring a surprise against England in their match here on October 18th.

Many observers have written off Springbok hopes after a disappointing Tri-Nations campaign, when they suffered big losses against Australia and New Zealand and the fact that they were destroyed 53-3 by England at Twickenham 12 months ago.

But while the South Africans currently are ranked sixth in the world by the International Rugby Board, Krige believes they will prove to be better than that.

"The underdog status motivates the guys because we want to prove people wrong," said Krige, who points to the fact that they have lost just one World Cup match in 13 appearances spanning two tournaments - the sole defeat coming against Australia in the 1999 semi-final.

There is unlikely to be any surprise in the way South Africa tackle their first match against Uruguay on Saturday, or their defining clash against England.

They are bound to be physically abrasive to the point of intimidation, yet Krige insisted the Springboks would "play it as physically as we can within the law".

Wales intend to get physical with their opening opponents Canada in a crunch Pool D clash at Melbourne's Telstra Dome on Sunday.

If Wales are to take a quarter-final place by qualifying as group runners-up behind New Zealand, they can afford no hiccups against Canada, Italy or Tonga.

And team manager Alan Phillips knows Wales, who beat Canada 32-21 in Cardiff last November, cannot take a backward step.

"The Canadians are always tough opponents. They play in your face, and they keep coming at you, so we will need to show good discipline," Phillips said.

"I know that we have been written off, but it doesn't bother us, and I know that results haven't been great over the past 12 months, but as a group, we are motivated and excited to play."

Wales coach Steve Hansen is set to announce his starting team when the squad arrives in Melbourne on Friday from their current Canberra training base.

And the need to at least match Canada's anticipated physical onslaught has influenced Hansen's thinking in terms of selection. But there could be some unexpected combinations behind the scrum as he looks to utilise his squad.

"We've picked a pack of forwards to get stuck in," added Phillips. "All the training is done, and we are now actually slacking off."