Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Rugby World Cup 2011: Mike Tindall recalled by England

Mike Tindall Tindall was rested for England's 41-10 victory over Georgia on Saturday
England have recalled Mike Tindall in one of seven changes for Saturday's World Cup Pool B match with Romania.
The centre was rested for the 41-10 win over Georgia and features for the first time since a controversial night out in Queenstown with team-mates.
Mark Cueto makes his first appearance of the tournament on the wing following a back injury, while Jonny Wilkinson takes over from Toby Flood at fly-half.
Steve Thompson, Alex Corbisiero, Louis Deacon and Tom Croft also return.
England manager Martin Johnson is without lock Courtney Lawes, who completes a two-match suspension, and prop Matt Stevens, who has been struggling with an ankle problem.
Northampton full-back Ben Foden, who has been hampered by a side injury, is fit to start along with Chris Ashton, who hurt an elbow in scoring his second try against Georgia.
Nick Easter is again ruled out with a back injury, with James Haskell continuing at number eight, while prop Corbisiero is another player to earn his first start of the competition.
Lewis Moody retains his place as openside flanker and will captain the team, which is arguably Johnson's strongest available despite many expecting him to rest senior players with an eye on completing a 100% record in the group stages in next week's final pool game against Scotland.
After a performance against Georgia that brought five points if not much in the way of plaudits either from within the camp or outside, Johnson suggested he was looking for a marked improvement on Saturday.
Sat alongside Tindall, Johnson made light of the Gloucester player's return, stating: "We've played since [the night out]. We've put it to bed."
For his part, Tindall denied the past few days had been a "challenging time" when asked, saying it had merely been disappointing not to have been picked last weekend.
The 73-times capped player, who married the Queen's grand-daughter Zara Phillips this year, had been at the centre of a media storm since closed circuit television pictures from Queenstown's Altitude Bar were released, appearing to show him in conversation with a mystery woman.
However, a source close to Tindall and his wife has said the woman is an old friend of the couple.
Tindall's performances on the field have also come under scrutiny after Saracens technical director Brendan Venter labelled him "the personification of everything that is wrong with England's attack".
But Foden is certain the 32-year-old can make an immediate impact on his return to the team. He said: "I'm sure he'll answer his critics the same way he usually does. Mike's a very professional guy. He hasn't let it influence him in training or anything like that.
"It's a personal matter that he's sorting out. He seems fine. I think it's all been eradicated and quickly forgotten.
"He'll be keener than anyone to go out there on the weekend and show the critics he is here to win a World Cup and perform well for England. Hopefully he'll answer the critics in the right way."
Meanwhile, Romania have made 11 changes to the team that lost 43-8 to Argentina last time out.
England: B Foden (Northampton Saints); C Ashton (Northampton Saints), M Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), M Tindall (Gloucester Rugby), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); J Wilkinson (Toulon), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers); A Corbisiero (London Irish), S Thompson (London Wasps), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), L Deacon (Leicester Tigers), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Croft (Leicester Tigers), L Moody (Bath Rugby, capt), J Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams).
Replacements: L Mears (Bath Rugby), D Wilson (Bath Rugby), S Shaw (Unattached), T Wood (Northampton Saints), R Wigglesworth (Saracens), T Flood (Leicester Tigers), D Armitage (London Irish)

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