Erinle gets England nod for All Blacks

Reuters - Wed, 18 Nov 12:21:00 2009

England have handed Ayoola Erinle his first Test start after manager Martin Johnson opted for power over finesse against the All Blacks on Saturday.

2009 England Ayoola Erinle - 0

Former Wasps and Leicester centre Erinle, now plying his trade for Biarritz, played the last 13 minutes off the bench against Australia and replaces Shane Geraghty, who drops to the bench from where he can also cover the fly-half position.

There were also recalls for the Wasps duo of lock Simon Shaw and flanker Joe Worsley, who add considerable beef and tackling power and replace Louis Deacon and Tom Croft.

Croft drops to the bench two days after being shortlisted for the International Rugby Board player of the year award.

Ugo Monye, who had a day to forget as a stand-in fullback in last week's 16-9 victory over Argentina, switches back to his preferred position on the wing, with Mark Cueto moving to number 15.

Duncan Bell retains his place in an injury-ravaged front row, while David Wilson has recovered enough from a neck injury to sit on the bench.

Gifted utility back Mathew Tait, who was not involved in the first two November Tests, is included among the replacements to complete a conservative-looking selection by Johnson.

After defeat by Australia and last week's turgid performance against Argentina, England will have to show a massive improvement to avoid a repeat of last year's 32-6 thrashing at the hands of the All Blacks.

Johnson said he was confident that would happen and said the coaching staff took much of the blame for last week, when his team were booed off at halftime.

"It was my call...we were a bit too conservative in the first half, we probably got that wrong and it went on a bit too long," Johnson said.

"It was driven by the conditions rather than a fear of losing. We didn't want to give them anything - Argentina are a dangerous team - but we turned it round and won a game we could easily have lost."

Johnson denied his changes were defensive, stressing that Erinle, Worsley and Shaw are powerful ball carriers as well as formidable defenders, but hinted anyone expecting a feast of running rugby had better look elsewhere.

"People have said this isn't a vintage All Black team but even a bad one, and this one isn't, will be ranked first or second in the world," he said.

"To beat them we have to be in it in the last 10 minutes and so you take it in small chunks.

"We have to start well. We didn't change quickly enough last week. Experienced teams do that so it's a good team who can change what they are doing during the match.

"The All Blacks will get a break, will get round you and get points, but you have to have the confidence that you can come back from that.

"The guys have had their frustrations but their mood is good and they want to go out and play."

With tackle-machine Worsley in the back row, England's defence looks solid but their attacking options appear limited as they bid to avoid an eighth straight defeat by New Zealand.

Team: 15-Mark Cueto, 14-Matt Banahan, 13-Dan Hipkiss 12-Ayoola Erinle, 11-Ugo Monye, 10-Jonny Wilkinson, 9-Paul Hodgson; 8-James Haskell, 7-Lewis Moody, 6-Joe Worsley, 5-Steve Borthwick (captain), 4-Simon Shaw, 3-Duncan Bell, 2-Dylan Hartley, 1-Tim Payne.

Replacements: 16-Steve Thompson, 17-David Wilson, 18-Louis Deacon, 19-Tom Croft, 20-Danny Care, 21-Shane Geraghty, 22-Mathew Tait

Reuters

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  1. with injuries all healed...... how about this for the­ best possible line up for the time being with only 3­ old uns just to keep the rest­ steady?

    armitage,sackey,tait,Flutey­ wilkinson,foden,strettle,Rees, Haskell,Croft, Kennnedy,­ Shaw, Vickery ( capt) hartley, sherridan

    From paul, on Fri 20 Nov 1:41PM

  2. after 20 years plus forecasting England and Lions­ lineups I have never been more than 1 or two players­ out,....until today where I find above, the reverse!

    From paul, on Fri 20 Nov 1:14PM

  3. once upon a time when managers (not coaches)just picked­ the best player available in each position a fairly­ cursory way of making a prediction was to ask which of­ their players would get into our team and which of our­ players would get into their team.
    Tomorrow I would­ suggest 15 and 0?

    From paul, on Fri 20 Nov 1:08PM

  4. these changes should have been done before the­ argentina game possibly should have been the team­ against austrailia. geraghty is a good club player but­ not an international player. i disagree regarding foden­ he should be considered as fullback as he played there­ for leeds and also northampton. i feel banahan is only­ playing as he scored a try last week but he hasnt­ showed anything to keep his place possibly cueto on­ wing and foden / ashton at full back. why is borthwick­ playing he shouldbt be captain i personally think lewis­ moody should be captain as he plays at 100% and gives­ everything for england. i think deacon would have­ played if borthwick wasnt captain also its about time­ worsley has started. but to be honest it will be same­ old england , only attack with the forwards have no­ idea to play attacking rugby with the backs and jonny­ wilko will kick the ball away. i can see New Zealand­ winning by 40+ points

    From Iain, on Thu 19 Nov 9:55AM

  5. well that picture looks scary enough.
    Now can he play­ rugby?
    If he can, how will he fit with the rest of the­ team who are finding it a serious struggle
    Go KIWI

    From jacob.waugh, on Thu 19 Nov 9:44AM

  6. Well said greenstandard could not agree more.

    From Joe B, on Thu 19 Nov 8:15AM

  7. i think johnson prob made the right changes (apart from­ not dropping borthwick) considering the players­ available. geraghty has looked out of place at 12 &­ his kicking out of hand has been terrible & croft­ just hasn't been performing for england or for his­ club i said before that he isn't a blineside, he­ misses far to many tackles & isn't great in the­ tight. he maybe a great athelete but i think he is­ better suited to 2nd row. i know that everyone keeps­ going on about foden but he cant catch a high ball­ under pressure & therefore he cant be condsidered­ to play fullback at international level.....think moyne­ last week. maybe johnson has picked a defensive side­ but he is trying to cut the all-blacks off at source by­ slowing their ball up & trying to ensure that­ england at least have a chance of breaking the gain­ line in midfield. its nice to see shaw back, i dont­ care how old he is, you put your best players on the­ pitch & he is the best lock in europe & will­ also help sure up englands scrum.

    From andywytchard, on Thu 19 Nov 8:00AM

  8. Drainbam I agree. The only point we all agree on is the­ lack of a captain. Borthwick has to be replaced as if­ we are to move on. Let him fight for his place in the­ team. He won't keep it. Too many high class locks­ ready to go. And apart from foden, jonn's really­ using everything he's got available. Give it time.­ Get the whole squad back. Let it grow.

    From greenstandard, on Thu 19 Nov 7:34AM

  9. Johnson is definitely in a defensive mode. There is no­ orginality in his selection at all. Dropping Croft and­ leaving Tait on the bench is absurd. He has, as ever.­ gone for brawn over brains. This England team is going­ nowhere and the creative appproach is being ignored­ which only allows this most pedestrian of teams to­ stolidly try and move forward.The fact that he still­ maintains faith in Steve Borthwick as captain is­ absurd. What will be Johnson's approach after the­ next loss this weekend?

    From BIJ, on Thu 19 Nov 12:11AM

  10. I dont understand comments about Ben Foden being too­ small, Jason robinson wasn't the biggest plyer but­ god he was good, and could turn games. This team needs­ game breakers playing in their prefered positions, and­ I agree with Tony H Courtney Laws deserves a full game,­ he is young and will make mistakes but he is the future­ , and he held his own against O'connel.
    New Zealand­ and Australia do well with blooding young talent , and­ they give them a fair chance to prove themselves not­ 10mins at the end off a poor game.
    Tony O

    From tonyoram, on Wed 18 Nov 10:21PM

  11. building a strong base to work from is the key to­ future success,with all the injuries to established­ squad players England need to find a balance­ ,older,younger and unbloodied players coming into the­ test arena are expected to perform on the­ day,confidence to play is born within the squad with­ encouragement from your team mates and coaching staff­ and this takes time!!! we have great untapped talent­ more so than any other rugby playing country,do we­ forget what happens to 'young' players when­ thrown into the fray far to soon (Aus tour) .So come on­ folks, this is damage limitation time,get behind the­ boys and so what if we lose ,lets look at the bigger­ picture,to many ex players and t v experts,paper­ columnists are sticking the boot in,sensationalism for­ the sake of it !! we would all follow the big man if he­ knocked at the door ! all the other nations know what a­ sleeping giant England is and are afraid,so rock the­ boat when they can,every dog has his day,watch this­ space...................

    From drainbamagedt, on Wed 18 Nov 8:09PM

  12. building a strong base to work from is the key to­ future success,with all the injuries to established­ squad players England need to find a balance­ ,older,younger and unbloodied players coming into the­ test arena are expected to perform on the­ day,confidence to play is born within the squad with­ encouragement from your team mates and coaching staff­ and this takes time!!! we have great untapped talent­ more so than any other rugby playing country,do we­ forget what happens to 'young' players when­ thrown into the fray far to soon (Aus tour) .So come on­ folks, this is damage limitation time,get behind the­ boys and so what if we lose ,lets look at the bigger­ picture,to many ex players and t v experts,paper­ columnists are sticking the boot in,sensationalism for­ the sake of it !! we would all follow the big man if he­ knocked at the door ! all the other nations know what a­ sleeping giant England is and are afraid,so rock the­ boat when they can,every dog has his day,watch this­ space...................

    From drainbamagedt, on Wed 18 Nov 8:07PM

  13. building a strong base to work from is the key to­ future success,with all the injuries to established­ squad players England need to find a balance­ ,older,younger and unbloodied players coming into the­ test arena are expected to perform on the­ day,confidence to play is born within the squad with­ encouragement from your team mates and coaching staff­ and this takes time!!! we have great untapped talent­ more so than any other rugby playing country,do we­ forget what happens to 'young' players when­ thrown into the fray far to soon (Aus tour) .So come on­ folks, this is damage limitation time,get behind the­ boys and so what if we lose ,lets look at the bigger­ picture,to many ex players and t v experts,paper­ columnists are sticking the boot in,sensationalism for­ the sake of it !! we would all follow the big man if he­ knocked at the door ! all the other nations know what a­ sleeping giant England is and are afraid,so rock the­ boat when they can,every dog has his day,watch this­ space...................

    From drainbamagedt, on Wed 18 Nov 6:46PM

  14. there's no inventive players in that team, no­ guile, lacks speed & if the coaching &­ management team think(as i see it) we can bosh them up­ front.. it's going to be along afternoon.. i would­ rather see a young side get humped than watch the here­ & now be fixed.. it stinks of fear & of­ pressure from the the dark corners of the­ rfu...i'll be giving the team my full support(as­ all england fans will do), but how many of us will be­ screaming & shouting the first time half the team­ trundle up to a ruck & stop??..

    Borthwick should­ be dropped, he's gone missing in both second half­ displays when the skipper was needed, great club­ player, good leader of his club side but an­ international skipper with great regret he is not, nor­ is he international class in my opinion.. there is no­ quick fix, but the longer this match by match mentality­ remains & johnson adopts a siege mentality(fine­ when he played) the deeper the hole we'll be­ in.."if you want running rugby look­ elsewhere"!!!.. scary comments from such a great­ player & man

    From Gaz, on Wed 18 Nov 6:04PM

  15. With this coaching staff england has not got a snowball­ in hells chance of being
    world class.Johnson may have­ been a great player but a great coach he aint.

    From rosypats, on Wed 18 Nov 5:30PM

  16. What is wrong with Foden at full back? Hailed last­ season as the new "find", he can't even­ get into Johnno's squad. Why won't Johnno bite­ the bullet and drop Borthwick?
    If we try and play­ "ping-pong" again we are going to be­ crucified. I think we would have a job beating Italy­ with this side, but I shall still be rooting for the­ team playing in white (I hope).

    From TONY, on Wed 18 Nov 5:11PM

  17. all blacks will win by 15-25 points im afraid...!

    From sean d, on Wed 18 Nov 4:59PM

  18. how about we let the managers manage , the coaches­ coach and the supporters­ ..............................well how about we­ SUPPORT!

    From cartman, on Wed 18 Nov 4:56PM

  19. Johnson should of made a few more changes, however at­ least goode isn't in the 22 any more.

    From Gareth, on Wed 18 Nov 4:49PM

  20. Greenstandard the point people here are making are that­ he is NOT putting out the best team available. On­ current form Foden seems to be the best full back in­ England, Kennedy, Laws are playing out of their skins. ­ Australia havent been afraid to put a youngster at­ scrum helf and you could say he hasnt disappointed. ­ Afraid I agree with Tony H and numero 7

    From domani, on Wed 18 Nov 4:36PM
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