Richard Wigglesworth remains confident that all of England’s players will recover in time for their Rugby World Cup opener against Argentina, despite a significant number of injured players.
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England’s attack coach played down concerns about the injury status of the Red Rose squad as they prepare for their first Pool D match against Argentina in Marseille this Saturday.
Tom Curry, who missed England’s entire World Cup warm-up program due to an ankle issue and did not train on Friday, faces a tight race against time to be fit for the game. He would have been a definite starter if healthy. Manu Tuilagi has not been able to participate in full training, Elliot Daly has been managing a calf problem, George Martin has a knee complaint, and Kyle Sinckler had a chest injury.
“There are a few little bumps and bruises like everyone has, but I think we will go into next weekend with a pretty clean bill of health,” said Wigglesworth.
“Tom Curry should be good to go, we are hopeful everyone is going to be ready. We don’t know yet but we think we should be good going in.
“Courtney Lawes is a bit sore from training on Friday, so we decided the best thing for him was not to sit in a chair for an hour or so, then have to stand up.
He is resting at the hotel, he is a bit sore from training, the pitch was heavy because of the rain. It’s nothing too serious, we are just looking after him.”
However, two players who will miss the game are captain Owen Farrell and No 8 Billy Vunipola will miss the Pumas clash through suspension
Jonny Wilkinson dream team:
FRONT-ROW
1. Jason Leonard (England): He was seen by Wilkinson as “someone who inspired and brought energy to the game” with impact.
2. Keith Wood (Ireland): “You need someone here in this position who can bring you the set piece control but at the same time I think they need to be aggressive, be someone that runs hard, someone that doesn’t stop, never gives up.”
3. Craig Dowd (New Zealand): “As with all tight heads what you want is someone who doesn’t take no for an answer, someone who is maybe a little quieter but someone you just don’t mess with”
SECOND-ROW
4. Bakkies Botha (South Africa): “Someone incredibly fierce but very very down to earth” and “at times he’s exactly what a team needs.”
5. Martin Johnson (England): “intelligent, another massive leader, gets himself around the park. My captain”