Johnson says Jonny has England future (From The Northern Echo)

Johnson says Jonny has England future

10:35am Thursday 18th March 2010 in

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MARTIN JOHNSON insisted his decision to drop Jonny Wilkinson does not signal the beginning of the end for England’s World Cup-winning flyhalf.

The former Newcastle Falcons ace has been axed for only the third time in his 12- year international career after Johnson decided to revamp his back division for Saturday’s clash with Grand Slam-chasing France.

The heavy blow to the head Wilkinson suffered in last weekend’s 15-15 draw with Scotland has limited his preparation time but was not the reason for the change.

The 30-year-old has been struggling for form all tournament and England were a more threatening animal at Murrayfield after he collided with Steve Borthwick’s hip and had to be replaced.

Wilkinson has been relegated to the bench, with fellow former Falcons player Toby Flood selected to start at fly-half in Paris in one of four changes to England’s line-up behind the scrum.

Full-back Ben Foden, debutant winger Chris Ashton and veteran outside centre Mike Tindall all come into the team, at the expense of Delon Armitage, the injured Ugo Monye and Wolsingham-born Mathew Tait.

Wilkinson had only been chopped from the England team on two previous occasions – at the 1999 World Cup and for Danny Cipriani in the 2008 Six Nations.

England boss Johnson insisted Wilkinson remains central to England’s 2011 World Cup plans.

‘‘Jonny is still a world-class player. If I thought Jonny was on the decline, I wouldn’t have picked him for our last seven internationals,’’ said Johnson.

‘‘There’s not many players in world rugby who could have dropped that goal against Ireland in the last ten minutes.

‘‘I’m sure Jonny will be disappointed he’s not starting but he’s a team player. The guys on the bench will be playing in the last quarter and that’s the most important quarter of the game.

‘‘We need at least two players in every position and we would have been happy to pick Toby in every game so far.

‘‘Toby has been an on-field general for us in the past two years. He is graduating into the leadership camp for us as he gets more experience.

‘‘Ahead of a World Cup, he needs to play in that position over the next 18 months as well as Jonny.’’ Flood, who was Wilkinson’s understudy at Newcastle, played fly-half against France at Twickenham last year when England scored five tries in 42 minutes and routed Les Bleus 34-10.

But on that occasion Wilkinson was not fit.

‘‘It’s a big honour for me to go out there and play (number) ten for England,’’ said Flood.

‘‘Getting picked ahead of a guy who is ultimately world class and has been the leader of the team in that position for a long, long time is great.

‘‘By no means does that mean he is finished though because we all know how hard he bites when he gets batted down.

‘‘We’ve all been dropped, obviously he’s been dropped less than others, but it’s about how you act in the dark times that makes you the person you are.

‘‘He came up and said, ‘If there’s anything you need, let me know’. He’s shown a huge amount of character.’’ B Foden (Northampton); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tindall (Gloucester), R Flutey (Brive), C Ashton (Northampton); T Flood (Leicester), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), J Worsley (Wasps), L Moody (Leicester), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: S Thompson (Brive), D Wilson (Bath), L Deacon (Leicester), J Haskell (Stade Francais), B Youngs (Leicester), J Wilkinson (Toulon), M Tait (Sale Sharks).