Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Youngs & Lawes start for England

Australia v England
Venue: ANZ Stadium, Sydney Date: Saturday, 19 June Kick-off: 1100 BST
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles; live coverage on Sky Sports 1.

Leicester scrum-half Ben Youngs
Youngs has made two appearances for England as a replacement

England manager Martin Johnson has made two changes to his side for Saturday's second Test against Australia.

Leicester scrum-half Ben Youngs and Northampton lock Courtney Lawes will make their first starts for England in the match in Sydney.

Youngs replaces Danny Care while Lawes comes into the second row in place of the veteran Simon Shaw.

Australia have recalled inside centre Matt Giteau and scrum-half Will Genia for the game at the ANZ Stadium.

Johnson has resisted calls to shake-up his team in the wake of the 27-17 defeat by the Wallabies in the first Test in Perth last week.

We can't give them that many shots. They are a good team and they will get something on us but we made it too easy for them last week

England manager Martin Johnson on Australia

Although the tourists dominated the scrum, they were beaten to the ball at the breakdown while their back-line struggled to penetrate the Aussie defence.

Johnson sticks with fly-half Toby Flood and inside centre Shontayne Hape with Jonny Wilkinson having to settle for a place on the bench.

Mike Tindall has recovered from a dead leg to be named at outside centre but Mathew Tait drops out of the squad completely.

Youngs impressed when coming off the bench last week and Johnson will be hoping that the 20-year-old and Lawes will inject the pace that was missing last week.

"This is a great opportunity for Ben, who has been with us since the middle of the Six Nations - the same for Courtney," said Johnson.

"Ben brings something different to Danny but it is not a reflection on Danny's performance. It is just an opportunity to get Ben on the field.

"It is a tough call on Danny, who has not done anything particularly wrong. Simon Shaw certainly hasn't done anything wrong but Courtney Lawes has really stepped up in the last few weeks since we have been together.

"He is very athletic and gets around the field and is very aggressive."

Johnson admitted that there was a temptation to bring back Wilkinson, adding: "There is always a rationale for playing Jonny but we are happy with what we have got with Toby.

"We can't give them that many shots. They are a good team and they will get something on us but we made it too easy for them last week."

England have called up Saracens centre Brad Barritt into the squad as cover for Dominic Waldouck, who is struggling with an ankle injury, and winger Matt Banahan - who will miss the rest of the tour after being suspended.

For Australia, Genia takes the number nine jersey despite Luke Burgess' impressive display in the first Test.

Genia has recovered from a knee ligament strain while Giteau is back at inside centre in place of Berrick Barnes after recovering from a hip problem.

Giteau is likely to take over the kicking duties from James O'Connor.

Australia coach Robbie Deans has stuck with the same tight five that struggled last week against England.


Australia: James O'Connor; Digby Ioane, Rob Horne, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell; Quade Cooper, Will Genia; Ben Daley, Saia Faingaa, Salesi Ma'afu, Dean Mumm, Nathan Sharpe, Rocky Elsom (captain), David Pocock, Richard Brown.
Replacements: Huia Edmonds, James Slipper, Mark Chisholm, Matt Hodgson, Luke Burgess, Berrick Barnes, Adam Ashley-Cooper.

England: Ben Foden (Northampton); Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Shontayne Hape (Bath), Chris Ashton (Northampton); Toby Flood (Leicester), Ben Youngs (Leicester); Tim Payne (Wasps), Steve Thompson (Brive), Dan Cole (Leicester), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Tom Croft (Leicester), Lewis Moody (Leicester, capt), Nick Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: George Chuter (Leicester), David Wilson (Bath), Simon Shaw (Wasps), James Haskell (Stade Francais), Danny Care (Harlequins), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Delon Armitage (London Irish).

eriacta 100 | erectalis | lexapro online no prescription

No comments: