Injuries plunge England's Test build-up into chaos

Rugby Union

England's preparations for the Test against the World Cup holders, South Africa, at Twickenham on 18 November are in a state of chaos after squad training sessions which were as notable for parades of walking wounded as for the work that was done.

The regular get-togethers at Marlow seemed a good idea at the time they were conceived last season in the long build-up to the World Cup. But now, though there is no evidence of malingering, they appear to be following the pattern of the old trial matches: good ones to miss.

This season's second session took place on Tuesday. "It was bad last time and it's worse this time," Jack Rowell, the England manager, said. "I've said to the players that if, the week before we play South Africa, we are in this state, we'll have serious problems.

"We are not being able to prepare properly. They have great loyalty to their clubs and they play with niggly injuries which become chronic."

This week at Marlow the top sheet of Rowell's instructional flip-chart listed nine injured squad members in addition to Tony Underwood - Bracken, Catt, Johnson, Leonard, Mensah, Ojomoh, Pears, Shaw and West - and when Ian Hunter had not arrived by the start of training Rowell indicated he was now considering playing a centre, Damian Hopley, on the wing against the Springboks.

In other circumstances the manager would have asked, or possibly demanded, that his players be excused the pre-Springbok round of Courage Championship fixtures on 11 November but instead he is reluctantly allowing them to play because the South African game was not on the original schedule.

This makes it no less frustrating when Rowell knows that the Springboks will have had a month since the end of their domestic season in which to rest and get ready. "You can imagine how supercharged South Africa are going to be," he said.

Rowell temporarily added Paul Grayson, Neil McCarthy, Andy Mullins and John Fowler to make up for the injured shortfall but belatedly decided against adding Andy Robinson, this season's outstanding English open-side flanker, who thereby may well have been saved a wasted journey. "I told him we would leave it this week but when selection became imminent he would be very much at the forefront of our consideration," Rowell said.

n Sean Fitzpatrick, the All Black captain, will miss the first game of the tour of Italy and France - against Italy B next Wednesday - after being suspended for eight days for throwing a punch in last Saturday's New Zealand Championship final between Auckland and Otago. Stuart Forster has replaced the injured scrum-half, Junior Tonu'u, in the tour party.