Internationals - Thompson returns to England side

Eurosport - Wed, 04 Nov 11:57:00 2009

England manager Martin Johnson has recalled World Cup winners Steve Thompson and Jonny Wilkinson for the Test with Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.

Steve Thompson - England - 0

Brive forward Thompson is named at hooker ahead of Dylan Hartley, who has had a hamstring worry, and will make his first England start since the 2006 Six Nations.

Thompson forms a new-look front row with props Tim Payne of Wasps and Bath's David Wilson, who are promoted to the starting XV due to England's extensive injury problems.

Wilkinson, who also plays in France for Toulon, returns to the starting line-up for the first time since March 2008 after enjoying a run of matches free of injury, and partners scrum-half Danny Care at half-back.

Thompson's selection represents a remarkable comeback for the 31-year-old, who was forced to retire from the game with a neck injury only to return to action with Brive after repaying his insurance payout.

The former Northampton hooker, capped 47 times, did make a brief England return with an appearance off the bench late-on in June's 37-15 win over Argentina but this was seen as a stop-gap effort.

"It is some comeback," Johnson said of Thompson's return.

"He did retire from the game and my sense is he realised just what he was missing. He got in shape, he's been fantastic with us and it's good to have that experience."

Both Thompson and Wilkinson were part of the England team that won the 2003 World Cup and are joined in Johnson's XV by flanker Lewis Moody, who came on as a replacement in the Sydney final.

Moody is named at blindside in an all-Leicester back-row alongside flanker Tom Croft and number eight Jordan Crane, the latter getting the nod ahead of the in-form James Haskell of Stade Francais.

Johnson has gone for a back three of Ugo Monye, Mark Cueto and Matt Banahan, with Monye switching from his usual wing berth to full-back.

Lock Steve Borthwick continues to captain the side and packs down in the second row with Leicester's Louis Deacon, while 20-year-old uncapped lock Courtney Lawes starts on the bench.

Lawes's Northampton team-mate Shane Geraghty starts at centre alongside Dan Hipkiss, who brings to five the number of Leicester players in Johnson's starting XV.

Despite having so many players missing through injury, Johnson was keen to look at the positives.

"It's an exceptional amount of injuries but we are not going to sit around and sulk about it and it gives opportunities to others," Johnson added at the team's training base.

"Look at last year when Delon (Armitage) came in from nowhere and did so well. Now he's out and it's a chance for one of the other guys.

"Yes we are without some players but we are also getting back some very experienced players. What is going to be important is the leadership of those older guys and the communication in the team and the squad have improved from last year."

Australia, whose largely second-string side beat Gloucester 36-5 on Tuesday night, will name their team on Thursday and Johnson warned that they are better than recent results suggest.

"They've been in a lot of games when they've been in with a chance to win and haven't so you shouldn't pay too much attention to their win/loss ratio," he said.

"They are a team who are battle hardened, they are well organised and they will have things up their sleeves for us."

England v Australia:

15-Ugo Monye, 14-MarK Cueto, 13-Dan Hipkiss, 12-Shane Geraghty, 11-Matt Banahan, 10-Jonny Wilkinson, 9-Danny Care; 8-Jordan Crane, 7-Lewis Moody, 6-Tom Croft, 5-Steve Borthwick (captain), 4-Louis Deacon, 3-David Wilson, 2-Steve Thompson, 1-Tim Payne.

Replacements: 16-Dylan Hartley, 17-Duncan Bell, 18-Courtney Lawes*, 19-James Haskell, 20-Paul Hodgson, 21-Andy Goode, 22-Ayoola Erinle*.

(* denotes uncapped)

Terence O'RORKE / Eurosport

Comment 10 - 29 of 29

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  1. Hoping england get a hiding.
    Go Aussie, or anyone else­ actually.
    Back to the drawing board for the dull grind­ of english rugby.

    From viconline, on Thu 5 Nov 6:57PM

  2. ninja_thing , he dislocated his shoulder a month ago,­ and now is facing a battle to be fit in 6 months time,­ meaning its possible his international career may be­ over
    you obviously know nothing about rugby and nothing­ about sportsmanship
    and im not even an england fan

    From moggie2727, on Thu 5 Nov 2:00PM

  3. Ohhh were is the great Andy Sheriden , touted as the­ one to destroy the AB's from row in 2006 and now­ bin dipping in London

    From ninja_king_returns, on Thu 5 Nov 5:00AM

  4. England will get a hiding from the all blacks last the­ last couple of years GO AB's

    From ninja_king_returns, on Thu 5 Nov 4:59AM

  5. Is this game on sky or what.moggie2727 im with you on­ that

    From alan, on Thu 5 Nov 1:09AM

  6. richard, c'mon! stop giving us ACTUAL wales fans a­ bad name and be a RUGBY fan for crying out loud
    ive got­ no interest in seeing england win if im honest, but if­ they play good rugby ill cheer them on an d appreciate­ their talent and effort

    From moggie2727, on Wed 4 Nov 10:49PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    england are @#$% and past it - get over it you­ losers.... WALES, WALES, WALES!!!!!

    From richard, on Wed 4 Nov 10:09PM

  8. i dont agree with all the selctions esp the 2nd rows­ & im not sure about crane at 8, but needs must i­ guess. for all those who are surprised to see monye at­ fullback, he has being played there a few times this­ season for quins & has done well, foden is great­ attacking but lacks the nerve to take the high ball­ under pressure & unless he can start to do that he­ will never be an international fullback, yes cueto has­ played there before but he was pretty dire & his­ postional play was all over the place so monye is prob­ the best choice of those available.

    From andywytchard, on Wed 4 Nov 9:32PM

  9. What England supporters want in the autumn­ internationals is someone to excite them - Geraghty­ apart, and he's been ignored for two years, there­ seems little sense of adventure. What about Foden? And­ Joe Simpson, the best scrum half in England at the­ moment? Yes, all England supporters want a win, and­ yes, there are injuries, but Johnson seems to play safe­ all the time. Why Deacon, and not Kennedy? The backline­ looks goodish, but when will we see a fearsome England­ pack again?

    From timafal7, on Wed 4 Nov 9:08PM

  10. #19, very small minded view.
    Without the foreign­ players in the celtic league the quality would not be­ as good. And when the quality isn't as good then­ the home nation players don't improve.
    The Irish­ teams in particular have always used home players from­ their acadamies first with a few foreigners to­ strengthen the weak spots, nothing wrong with that and­ as a result our home players learn from the likes of­ Howlett and Elsom etc.
    I think the GP however, does­ rely too much on imports. Not sure what kind of youth­ programmes you have there but that's the place to­ start building.

    From ptothej, on Wed 4 Nov 8:30PM

  11. I'm strongly of the feeling that Martin JOHNSON may­ have been a great player and leader in his day, but he­ is certainly no coach. By now over 1 year on he should­ have a group of 10 players on a permanent basis. You­ cannot blame things solely on injuries because if you­ look at the side he choose this time in 2008 the­ present 22 is not recognisable. Where are ENGLAND­ going? I think down a dark tunnel with no light at the­ end. Having watched the Tri-Nations I feel that the 6­ Nations Championship is always second best. The former­ culture of UK Rugby has been stripped apart by allowing­ far too many overseas players into the Guinness­ Premiership and Magners Leagues.

    From sutherland229, on Wed 4 Nov 7:12PM

  12. Couldn't agree more with comment 16... Celtic­ league coverage is terrible too. No live coverage and­ up to two days before scores will even be recorded and­ the league updated.

    Anyway, can't wait for the­ weekend!!!

    From Jake, on Wed 4 Nov 5:39PM

  13. IF LOUIS DEACON AND BORTHWICK ARE THE TWO BEST LOCKS WE­ CAN MUSTER THEN WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE SEE THEIR LACK OF­ BALL CARRYING SKILLS.JOHN WELLS FORWARD COACH WHAT A­ LAUGH,MONEY FOR OLD ROPE.WHAT CHANCE HAS ANY YOUNG­ TALENT GOT WITH THIS SETUP NONE.THEY WOULD HAVE PLAYED­ WHITE [36 YEARSOLD] IF THEY HAD HAD HALF A CHANCE,THAT­ SHOWS HOW PROGRESSIVE THEY ARE.

    From rosypats, on Wed 4 Nov 5:30PM

  14. Does seem that this rugby section is solely for ENGLISH­ rugby you get the odd mention of the other teams in­ Great Britain, but England seem to always take the­ heading, very sad

    From Nigel J, on Wed 4 Nov 5:08PM

  15. Does seem that this rugby section is solely for ENGLISH­ rugby you get the odd mention of the other teams in­ Great Britain, but England seem to always take the­ heading, very sad

    From Nigel J, on Wed 4 Nov 5:08PM

  16. although comment no: 10.... I hope the by the 15 points­ you mean 5 penalties... and not three tries... ­ (because Wilko won't miss the conversions!) :)

    From Matthew, on Wed 4 Nov 4:26PM

  17. complain about the leicester players all you want. but­ if you can name better players with the experience they­ have, who are not injured and available and qualified­ to play them please share your views,
    but OC no one­ better than hipkiss at present, back row? i think youll­ struggle to find better in form and fit players, second­ row? again struggle to get better with the expereince­ of deacon,
    so dont go slagging jonno's judgement­ with your biased theories.
    just get behind them. swing­ low and all that

    From samthomas85, on Wed 4 Nov 4:24PM

  18. OMG-This has to be the worst english pack i can­ remember? The backs are good to be fair although i­ can't work out why monye's at 15??? Good job­ the ozzy's pack are poor to....

    From Simon W, on Wed 4 Nov 4:20PM

  19. Let's get behind them, i bet all you lot can't­ wait to say i told you so if we get beat.. in a­ 'one off game' against the Aussies..

    Call­ yourself supporters, let's all burn our shirts if­ they lose..

    get a grip.

    Let's just see how they­ do, give them a chance, I agree with many of the­ comments, especially regarding Monye and Foden but­ things will change if it doesn't work.. It's­ the long term we are looking at and both of them are in­ for the long term...

    Old heads with a few new faces..­ what's wrong with that... ?

    Swing low, sweet­ chariot.

    From Matthew, on Wed 4 Nov 4:13PM

  20. lets see if all of you are still complaining after the­ game - 15-5 to England

    From sandy.powell34, on Wed 4 Nov 3:56PM
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