Woodward brings Bracken back into the England fold

Clive Woodward is throwing so many quality curve-balls these days, he could forget all about England and earn himself some real money with the Boston Red Sox. Fifteen days ago, he whistled up Charlie Hodgson from the back end of nowhere and asked him to play inside centre – a position with which he was wholly unfamiliar – against the French. Yesterday, the coach pulled another rabbit out of his baseball cap by recalling Kyran Bracken to the side for this weekend's Six Nations match with Wales in Cardiff.

Bracken has precious little club form to speak of, largely because the last time he turned out for Saracens he had his block knocked off by Robert Todd of Gloucester and has been suffering from concussion ever since. Indeed, there was some debate as to whether he had actually recovered from the condition, and it needed a few wise words from Simon Kemp, the England medic, to reassure those expressing concern for the scrum-half's well-being.

"There is still a mandatory three-week rest period, but only for those playing age-group rugby," the good doctor explained. "For those who have access to the appropriate neurological advice and support, recovery times are judged on the individual circumstances." He could not get his distinguished head around what might happen in the case of an age-group player whose father happened to be a neurosurgeon, but then, it was a day for curve-balls.

Woodward did not directly criticise Andy Gomarsall's contribution against France, but the Gloucester half-back was well off the pace and now finds himself among the bench-bunnies. Matthew Dawson of Northampton would have played if fit, but the coach was not prepared to wait until later in the week for an all-clear on the former captain's calf injury. So Bracken it will be, for the first time since the championship victory over Italy in Rome more than 10 months ago. Needless to say, the long-serving if injury-prone Saracen greeted the news with considerable enthusiasm.

"I always hoped I would be involved at some point during the Six Nations, but I can't say I saw this one coming," he admitted. "Clive phoned me on Sunday, and it was an unexpected call. It's the way things are in this game; sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it goes against you. I've been in and around the England squad for a decade now, but none of us – Matt, Andy, myself – have managed to string together more than six or seven consecutive matches, and we've found ourselves fighting the fight every year. I've never played at the Millennium Stadium, so that will be fantastic. Most importantly, though, I have a chance to re-establish myself at this level."

Quite rightly, Hodgson will get a second run alongside Jonny Wilkinson in the England midfield – "Last Saturday was a risk for him and a risk for us, but I like to look outside the obvious and I think he did fantastically well in causing the French more problems than they would dare admit," Woodward said, glowingly – while Leicester's Graham Rowntree and Lawrence Dallaglio of Wasps will start in the absence of Jason Leonard, whose hamstring problems may incapacitate him for some weeks, and Lewis Moody, whose shoulder injury is less serious.

Given the continuing concern over the fitness of Julian White, the Bristol prop, England are gambling heavily by including Mike Worsley, the London Irish loose head, in their match-day squad for the first time, rather than a tight-head specialist. White's troublesome knee flared up after Saturday's game, and he toyed with the idea of withdrawing from the Wales game immediately. Things looked a shade brighter yesterday, but if he fails to go the distance in Cardiff, the affable Rowntree will be asked to do a turn in a role with which he is scarcely acquainted.

Meanwhile, the Scots have recalled Jason White, the tough and versatile Glasgow lock, for their match with France in Paris on Sunday.

Injured during the 36-22 victory over Fiji at Murrayfield in November, White replaces Edinburgh's Nathan Hines in a squad otherwise unchanged from that which found itself on the wrong end of a 30-point defeat by Ireland three days ago.

SIX NATIONS LINE-UPS

ENGLAND TEAM

(v Wales, Millennium Stadium, Saturday): J Robinson (Sale Sharks), D Luger (Harlequins), W Greenwood (Harlequins), C Hodgson (Sale Sharks), B Cohen (Northampton), J Wilkinson (Newcastle), K Bracken (Saracens), G Rowntree (Leicester), S Thompson (Northampton), J White (Bristol), M Johnson (Leicester, capt), B Kay (Leicester), R Hill (Saracens), N Back (Leicester), L Dallaglio (Wasps). Replacements: M Regan (Leeds), M Worsley (London Irish), D Grewcock (Bath), J Worsley (Wasps), A Gomarsall (Gloucester), P Christophers (Bristol), J Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester).

SCOTLAND SQUAD

(v France, Stade de France, Sunday): BACKS: M Blair (Edinburgh), A Craig (Orrell), B Laney (Edinburgh), K Logan (Wasps), G Metcalfe (Glasgow), C Paterson (Edinburgh), B Redpath (Sale, capt), G Ross (Leeds), G Townsend (Borders), K Utterson (Borders). FORWARDS: R Beattie (Bristol), G Bulloch (Glasgow), B Douglas (Borders), S Grimes (Newcastle), G Kerr (Leeds), M Leslie (Edinburgh), A Mower (Newcastle), S Murray (Edinburgh), S Scott (Borders), T Smith (Northampton), S Taylor (Edinburgh), J White (Glasgow).