Sport

Injured Moody a worry for England as Wales lose Stoddart

England 23 Wales 19: LEWIS MOODY’S chances of captaining England into the Rugby World Cup will become clearer today.

Mon Aug 08 2011 - 01:00

England 23 Wales 19:LEWIS MOODY'S chances of captaining England into the Rugby World Cup will become clearer today.

Moody limped out of England’s 23-19 warm-up win against Wales with what he hopes is just a “tweak” of his right knee.

The Bath flanker missed England’s Six Nations title campaign after damaging ligaments in the same knee in January. He took the field on Saturday with heavy strapping on his leg.

Moody’s initial fear when 18-stone team-mate Matt Banahan fell on his knee at Twickenham on Saturday was that he would miss the Rugby World Cup.

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Those concerns had eased by the time Moody returned to the changing room but England still have an anxious wait before he is given the all-clear.

Moody was unlikely to play in next weekend’s return match against Wales in Cardiff anyway and England will certainly take no chances with his fitness.

While While there is hope for Moody, Wales fullback Morgan Stoddart’s World Cup dream was ended by a broken leg.

The 26-year-old only started at Twickenham after Stephen Jones pulled out during the warm-up with a tight calf muscle.

But barely an hour later, the Scarlets wing or fullback was carried off, an oxygen mask clutched to his face and any hope of flying to New Zealand later this month cruelly destroyed.

Stoddart suffered the injury when he was tackled by England fullback Delon Armitage, having just intercepted a pass.

Wales almost wiped out a 13-point deficit at Twickenham. England opened a 20-7 lead with tries from James Haskell and debutant Manu Tuilagi but Wales dominated the final quarter against an England side that required Jonny Wilkinson’s trademark drop-goal accuracy to claim a 23-19 success.

England were outscored 3-2 on tries – George North’s double and Shane Williams’ 54th Test match touchdown ensuring that Wales ran their hosts close.

ENGLAND: Armitage; Banahan, Tuilagi, Flutey, Cueto; Wilkinson, Care; Corbisiero, Hartley, Stevens; Shaw, Palmer; Croft, Moody, Haskell. Replacements: Mears for Hartley, Wrigglesworth for Care, Wilson for Stevens, Botha for Shaw (all 58 mins), Sharples for Tuilagi (60 mins), Wood for Moody (61 mins), Hodgson for Wilkinson (77 mins).

WALES: Stoddart; North, J Davies, Roberts, S Williams; Priestland, Phillips; James, Bennett, Mitchell; B Davies, A Jones; Lydiate, Warburton, Faletau. Replacements: S Williams for Stoddart (48 mins), R Jones for Faletau (54 mins), R Knoyle for Phillips (61 mins), Bevinton for James, Burns for Bennett, Charteris for A Jones (all 65 mins)

Referee: S Walsh (Australia).