Martin Johnson pulled few surprises when he named England’s starting fifteen for their World Cup opener against Argentina on Saturday. The only absentee from a full strength side is wing Mark Cueto, who is out with a back injury; Delon Armitage comes in to replace the Sale man.
Manu Tuilagi starts in the centre with Mike Tindall, who captains the side in the absence of Lewis Moody. Richard Wigglesworth starts at scrum half, with Jonny Wilkinson, playing in his fourth World Cup, regaining the number ten shirt once again.
It signifies an almost miraculous comeback from the hero of 2003, whose international career appeared to be all but over after a disappointing Six Nations campaign in 2010. After spending the previous few years out with injury or sat on the bench, England’s all time record points scorer is the leading man once again.
Wilkinson demonstrated a fresh approach and style during England’s warm up campaign; taking the ball at pace and playing flat on the gain line, allowing the strong running centre combination of Tindall and Tuilagi to pick lines and get in behind opposition. However, it’s not a completely new model, he still possesses two wonderful feet with which to find field position or to dissect the uprights, in whatever form is necessary. In defence, JW is still giving attackers the brick-wall treatment, retaining his mantel as his countries best tackling back.
At thirty-two years old, Wilkinson is still the fittest member of the England squad, eclipsing the rest of the squad during the various boot camps over the summer months. In fact, add all this together and maybe, just maybe Jonny is better now than he was in 2003. There are no doubts over his big-match temperament and an improved Jonny Wilkinson is a scary prospect for the rest of the world.
England team to play Argentina:
Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Manu Tuilagi, Mike Tindall (captain), Delon Armitage, Jonny Wilkinson, Richard Wigglesworth, Andrew Sheridan, Steve Thompson, Dan Cole, Louis Deacon, Courtney Lawes, Tom Croft, James Haskell, Nick Easter.
Replacements:
Dylan Hartley, Matt Stevens, Tom Palmer, Tom Wood, Ben Youngs, Toby Flood, Matt Banahan.
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