Ashton gambles on help from clubs

England have reverted to the XV who kicked off their Six Nations campaign with a 42-20 win over Scotland for their next championship assignment against Ireland in Croke Park on Saturday week. The team thus shows two changes from Saturday's hard-earned, 20-7 win over Italy, with Gloucester fullback Olly Morgan and Wasps blindside flanker Joe Worsley returning to the team.

Morgan's injury-bedevilled Gloucester team-mate Iain Balshaw, troubled by a groin strain, and Harlequins' debutant flanker on Saturday, Nick Easter, make way for Morgan and the fit-again Worsley, who was ruled out of consideration for the Italian game with a neck injury. Morgan will be winning his second cap.

"I've decided to recall Olly Morgan because I don't expect Iain Balshaw to make a full recovery from his groin injury in time for the game," commented England head coach Brian Ashton.

"Joe Worsley has recovered from his neck injury and reclaims the number six shirt just ahead of Nick Easter, who I thought had a very good debut for England against Italy. However, Joe's greater experience at this level means that he is selected."

Ashton revealed his hand 11 days before the Croke Park clash and a week ahead of schedule in the hope that the English Premiership clubs will rest the players from this weekend's full programme of games in a gesture of goodwill, though as elite director of rugby Rob Andrew admits, they are under no obligation to do so.

England are particularly concerned about the three Sunday games - Bristol v Newcastle, Saracens v Gloucester and Wasps v Sale - which could potentially involve nine of the starting XV just six days before the Croke Park clash.

"We've already had an indication that certain players will be rested, possibly benched, and we will look at it on an individual basis and try and release as many of the starting XV as we can," commented Andrew, until recently the long-serving director or rugby at Newcastle.

"The clubs are making huge efforts. Nine of the starting XV against Scotland did not play the previous weekend. So there's huge effort going on by the clubs and we fully understand their position.

"I do understand the position they are in and we saw it before the Six Nations started."

Helpfully, Andrew's former club have agreed to rest his much prized protege Jonny Wilkinson from their game at high-flying Bristol. "We believe this is a decision in the best interests of the club and the player," said current Newcastle coach John Fletcher.

"Jonny has started two tough international matches, taken a lot of bumps and bruises, and we have reached a joint decision. We are in the fortunate position of having two England outhalves at the club, and both Toby Flood and Mathew Tait will be involved down at Bristol," said Fletcher in reference to two of England's replacements for Croke Park.

"Each player has been taken case by case, based on what is best, and for Toby and Mathew we believe playing for their club down at Bristol is the appropriate course of action to take."

Andrew has already spoken with Premier Rugby chairman Tom Walkinshaw about the issue. The long-running and reportedly progressive talks between the RFU and the clubs, including handsome financial compensation to the clubs from the union, could smooth the process.

This in turn might also help the struggle over voting rights on the board of ERC, the organisation running the European Cup, to avert the proposed French boycott of next season.

However, time is running out with regard to this issue, and neither the French nor English club representatives attended last week's shareholders meeting in Dublin.

Even the French clubs have agreed to allow the Top 14 go into a mid-season hibernation during the course of the Six Nations so as to help Bernard Laporte's planning and preparations, and Ashton echoed Andrew's claim that, by comparison to Ireland's two weeks' training in readiness for the Croke Park game, England might only have one full day's training.

"All I can say is if a lot of the guys play next Sunday, then we won't be able to train until the following Wednesday. We fly out on Thursday, and play on Saturday, which I think probably speaks for itself.

"It is out of my control - there is nothing I can do at all. Other people need to sort this out. I will just wait to see what the outcome is, and then act accordingly."

This does not, strictly speaking, add up, not least because Eddie O'Sullivan cancelled yesterday's Irish training and has released the players - a clear signal not to overdo Ireland's time in camp unnecessarily as in previous years and allow them to regather next Sunday mentally refreshed.

There had been a school of thought that Tait, the nimble and quick-footed Newcastle centre, might be called into the starting line-up to inject more dynamism and pace into what has been a somewhat ponderous English midfield, but Ashton has retained the Andy Farrell-Mike Tindall combination.

Much of the ball-in-hand philosophy adopted against Scotland was curtailed against Italy, when England became embroiled in more of a kicking, narrower game; they scored only one try through the rejuvenated Jason Robinson on one of the rare occasions they went wide.

The Italian pack, benefiting from recalls for Andreo Lo Cicero and Martin Castrogiovanni, did not allow England the same forward momentum they enjoyed against Scotland a week before, and the effects were seen in a laboured performance against Italy, which is perhaps Ireland's most salient lesson from England's two Twickenham outings.

Nonetheless, largely as expected, England travel to Croke Park still enjoying the feel-good factor of a new coach along with both a settled and winning side, and rather more surprisingly, perhaps a new-found sense of co-operation between clubs and country.(v Ireland, Croke Park, Saturday, February 24th, 5.30)

15 Olly Morgan (Gloucester)

14 Josh Lewsey (Wasps)

13 Mike Tindall (Gloucester)

12 Andy Farrell (Saracens)

11 Jason Robinson (Sale)

10 Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle)

9 Harry Ellis (Leicester)

1 Perry Freshwater (Perpignan)

2 George Chuter (Leicester)

3 Phil Vickery (Wasps, capt)

4 Danny Grewcock (Bath)

5 Louis Deacon (Leicester)

6 Joe Worsley (Wasps)

7 Magnus Lund (Sale)

8 Martin Corry (Leicester).

Replacements: L Mears (Bath), J White (Leicester), T Palmer (Wasps), T Rees (Wasps), S Perry (Bristol), T Flood (Newcastle), M Tait (Newcastle).