Wilkinson and Tuilagi to face Ireland

Martin Johnson did not have to spell out the significance of his starting line-up to face Ireland . Earlier this month he made clear he would be picking his strongest side, fully aware the time for experiments has expired. Aside from the injured Lewis Moody and Ben Youngs, it would appear Johnson has now arrived at his preferred XV to tackle Argentina in their opening Pool B fixture on 10 September.For Jonny Wilkinson, Steve Thompson, Louis Deacon and Manu Tuilagi this is excellent news; for Toby Flood, Dylan Hartley, Tom Palmer and Shontayne Hape there is no disguising the ominous message. England, though, had little option but to reassess their midfield options following their 19-9 defeat in Cardiff and have concluded that Wilkinson and Tuilagi simply have to start. Thompson's selection <a href="http://wk.putianb2b.com/"><strong>å¨�客网站 </strong></a> ahead of Hartley is more of a marginal call but, once again, the management clearly felt it necessary.Nor is it mere coincidence that three of England's starting World Cup heroes of 2003 have been handed pivotal roles eight years on. Johnson is already anticipating&nbsp;a&nbsp;seriously physical challenge against the Pumas and, increasingly, seems keen to surround himself with as many proven Test warriors as possible. The 20-year-old Tuilagi is the exception to that rule but <a href="http://wk.putianb2b.com/"><strong>å�—京兼è�Œ </strong></a> England badly need to unearth a midfield cutting edge from&nbsp;somewhere.Even Johnson now appears to have recognised the obvious, although Hape might not have been fit to face the Irish anyway. The former Bradford Bulls rugby league player, not for the first time in his career, has a sore knee, giving Johnson a further excuse to tinker with his centre pairing yet again. Remarkably this is the 13th different midfield combination England will have fielded in 35 Tests since Johnson took the job in 2008, not a statistic of which to be proud.For now, at least, Tuilagi will be wearing 13 with Mike Tindall at 12, a role he last filled for England against New Zealand in 2008. No one could ever accuse Tindall of letting king and country down – he is about to win his 72nd cap which equals Will Carling's&nbsp;record for an England centre – but he is not the deftest distributor in the history of the game. That may not matter in certain areas of the field but England badly need more subtlety in their <a href="http://wk.putianb2b.com/"><strong>æ�*å·žå…¼è�Œ </strong></a> opponents' 22.Flood's struggle to make things happen in Cardiff has also given Wilkinson the chance to be England's fly-half kingpin again at his fourth World Cup. "He has played very well and deserves this game to start," Johnson said. "As I've said before there is always a case for starting Jonny Wilkinson." He went on to stress that Flood had not necessarily been demoted but, tellingly, Wilkinson described his selection as a "massive pleasure" after 18 months spent largely on the bench behind Flood. "To be in that starting team is ultimately what you are after."His team-mates, though, reckon Wilkinson is more than ready, having seen him out-run the entire squad in shuttle-runs over 40 metres. "Johnny's ahead of everybody on the speed tests by about 10 seconds," the Northampton wing Chris Ashton said. "I don't know how he does it because he's not that quick." Wilkinson, after so many years spent doing rehab work, is clearly relishing his improved state of health at the age of 32: "Relatively speaking I would like to think I am better than I have [ever] been."The happiest forward in the team is unquestionably Andrew Sheridan, who has played only one game of rugby this year and has now undergone three shoulder operations in 18 months. The management had wanted to rush him back against Wales but eventually decided to play safe. This, even so, is a key game for the Sale prop in terms of proving his World Cup fitness. "It's very important," he said. "I'm rusty in terms of playing time and I just want to get out there."Saturday <a href="http://rooyee.org/view.php?id=37216"><strong>Investigation renews in spiraling missing mom case (AP)</strong></a> also offers James Haskell and Richard Wigglesworth the chance to prove they are the best available deputies should Moody and Youngs not be fit for the Pumas game. The uncapped Joe Simpson is on the bench and will definitely come on at some stage; if England are behind when he arrives it could be a searching introduction. "Ireland are in a similar desperate position, not having won [their past three games]. That's good," insisted Johnson, betraying a hint of concern about England's current form. "We need to front up on Saturday."