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[Blwe_torch]

England's injury problems are still nothing compared to Wales's but their plans for Saturday week's opening Six Nations fixture against the grand slam champions suffered another blow yesterday when Olly Barkley was ruled out of Twickenham contention with a dislocated right thumb.
Barkley, who was due to see a specialist last night to determine the full extent of the damage he suffered during Bath's defeat to Leinster on Sunday, is likely to be sidelined until at least mid-February and, in addition to the Wales encounter, looks destined to miss England's subsequent trip to Rome as well.

As with Phil Vickery, whose recurring back problems have sadly struck again, Barkley was a near-certainty to be named in Andy Robinson's 22-man squad next Tuesday. His misfortune is bad news for his club, who will be without him against Wasps this Saturday, and does nothing to ease Robinson's increasingly thorny midfield conundrum.

Although Barkley has been switched to fly-half since Brian Ashton assumed control at Bath, his left-footed kicking made him a prime candidate for the No12 shirt alongside Charlie Hodgson. Now Robinson must decide whether to stick with Mike Tindall and Jamie Noon, two relatively similar players, or experiment with a fresh blend involving one or more of his other options: Josh Lewsey, Stuart Abbott and James Simpson-Daniel.

It is all a question of balance. If Robinson wants to play safe he will be tempted to give Tindall and Noon another chance. If he wants to start weaving prettier midfield patterns, on the other hand, he needs sleight of hand as well as power. Tindall and Simpson-Daniel would offer that elusive mix, as would the Wasps' club pairing of Stuart Abbott and Lewsey.

More daring still would be Lewsey at 12, Simpson-Daniel at 13 and Tom Voyce at 15, with two strong-running wings in Mark Cueto and Ben Cohen. Some will view that as too experimental for a game England badly want to win but all of those named are in terrific form. The only downside would be the lack of back-up kickers to Hodgson, minimised by the now certain presence of Leicester's Andy Goode on the bench.

Robinson, either way, is hoping the precautionary plaster cast on Barkley's injured wrist is not masking a long-term problem. "It is unfortunate for Olly, Bath and England because he is an important part of the squad," the England head coach admitted.

England's players will rejoin their clubs for training today after a two-day camp at Loughborough University during which the national side practised against the students. They will reconvene in Bagshot on Sunday night after the weekend's Premiership matches with Lawrence Dallaglio, for one, still unsure what Robinson's selection will be.

"I don't know when my chance will come - it may come in the first game, it may not, but I hope it comes at some stage and it's a question of being in the right shape physically and mentally to take the opportunity," said the recalled Dallaglio yesterday, keen to add to the 73 caps he won before his retirement in August 2004. "I know as well as anyone the amount of hard work it's going to take to get back in the team and then to stay in it. But from my previous experience when we won the grand slam in 2003 I think we used 36 players across the five games. It is going to be a squad effort."

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/sixnations2006/story/0,,1694028,00.html

[dextrous]

Rugby?!
That's a barbaric sport!

[Blwe_torch]

Hey..I believe it is more passionate than football.
I normally follow the World Cups and the 6 Nations Cup( formerly 5 Nations Cup.....now they have incld Italy).
BTW, Rugby has more discipline than football.