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Flood lands England fly-half role

Toby Flood has been named as fly-half for England in Saturday's Six Nations game against Ireland in Dublin.

The Leicester number 10 swaps places with Andy Goode, who drops to the bench, in the only change to the starting XV beaten 23-15 by Wales.

Fit-again Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care, who missed the opening two games of the campaign, replaces Paul Hodgson among the replacements.

Prop Tim Payne and utility back Ben Foden will also travel to Dublin.

But there is no place even on the bench for Danny Cipriani, despite a recent return to form with Wasps.

Flood's return to the starting XV means England have changed their fly-half seven times in the last 10 games.

Jonny Wilkinson, Charlie Hodgson, Cipriani and and Goode have also all had run-outs in the number 10 shirt.

Wilkinson was the man in possession in last year's Six Nations before being replaced by Cipriani for the final game against Ireland.

Hodgson and Flood started the two summer Tests in New Zealand before Cipriani returned from a serious ankle injury for the autumn series.

But after starting the first three matches, he was replaced by Flood, who took over for the final Twickenham Test against the All Blacks.

With Flood nursing a calf injury before the Six Nations, Goode was recalled for the opening match against Italy.

He marked his return to the side with a try inside two minutes and a 16-point haul, and also created England's first try against Wales for Paul Sackey and landed a 40m drop-goal.

But he did not return to the action after being sin-binned early in the second half, with Flood sent on in his place, and the Leicester man now gets a chance to stake his claim from the start.

"We are comfortable with either of those guys playing, but felt it was the right time for Toby to come back in," England manager Martin Johnson told BBC Sport.

"He has played pretty well coming off the bench, so we think it is a great opportunity for him to come in and start."

Johnson insists Saturday's clash represents a "fantastic opportunity" to prove their mettle at Croke Park, where Brian Ashton's side - including seven members of the current 22 - were humiliated 43-13 two years ago.

"I think this will be the last time an England team will play at Croke Park for the forseeable future," Johnson added.


"The atmosphere will be brilliant and it will be another great occasion. We need to obviously rise to it but not get carried away with it.
"We need to be thinking, and need to be accurate. Last week we were 9-0 down very quickly. We came back but it would be nice to not be in that position after 20 minutes."

Johnson believes that too much is being made of England's disciplinary issues, but concedes his side must ensure they do no have further cause to bemoan decisions against them.

"We need to take the referee's influence out of it as much as possible by not giving them reason for us to be penalised - the lower the penalty count, the better your chance in the game," he added.

"It's an ongoing process, we're continually trying to take it out of our game, but sometimes you end up on the wrong side of three or four calls and it can make the difference."


 :england:  team to face Ireland in Dublin on 28 February:

D Armitage; Sackey, Tindall, Flutey, Cueto; Flood, Ellis; Sheridan, Mears, Vickery; Borthwick, Kennedy; Haskell, Worsley, Easter.

Replacements:

 Hartley, White, Croft, Narraway, Care, Goode, Tait.

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Ireland aim to take another step towards a possible RBS Six Nations title showdown with Wales by beating England in Dublin on Saturday.

Coach Declan Kidney has named the same side for the third straight match after victories over France and Italy.

England, thrashed 43-13 at Croke Park in 2007, hope to build on the promise of their display in Wales as they look for a first win in Dublin since 2003.

Their only change sees Toby Flood replace Andy Goode at fly-half.

Flood, 23, will win his 24th cap, but it is only his fifth start at fly-half.

Manager Martin Johnson hopes the Leicester Tiger, who also takes the goal-kicking duties, will bring some consistency to a position where England have used five different players in 10 Tests.  

RECENT MEETINGS

2008:  :england:  33-10    
2007:    43-13  :england:  
2006:  :england:  24-28    
2005:    19-13  :england:  
2004:  :england:  13-19      

"Toby's been around the international scene for two or three years now and I see this as his chance to nail down the position," said Johnson.

"Pulling the strings at international level is a big responsibility, and players have to experience a range of things before they can make the role theirs."

Flood will hope not to repeat his experience in Dublin two years ago, when he watched as an unused replacement while Brian Ashton's side conceded a record number of points by any English team in championship history.

Only four of the starting XV thrashed 43-13 - Mike Tindall, Harry Ellis, Joe Worsley and Phil Vickery, who was captain that day - remain, while Lee Mears, Julian White and Mathew Tait appeared as replacements amid the carnage.

By contrast, 13 of Ireland's 22 and seven of the starting side that revelled in a fixture bursting with historical and political symbolism will confront England at "Croker" for a second and final time, with Ireland returning to the revamped Lansdowne Road next year.

However, according to full-back Rob Kearney, one of a clutch of young players who have added an extra vibrancy to Ireland this season, it is memories of last year's 33-10 defeat at Twickenham that the Irish will look to for motivation.

"There's a lot of hurt from last year because we got a good old trouncing and now it's the time to set that right," he said.

"But the England game of two years ago has been talked about as well. I wasn't involved in that one but I can't wait to get a taste of it.

"This is a massive occasion. Ireland is a hugely patriotic country and with that comes a huge responsibility to ourselves and our country. It's important that we finish this match with the right message."  


A third victory in this year's championship would see talk of a first Irish Grand Slam in 61 years grow louder, despite a hazardous finish to their campaign that features trips to Murrayfield and the Millennium Stadium on successive Saturdays.

But they should have enough momentum to keep that dream alive against an England side seeking reassurance that running Wales close in Cardiff was not a defiant one-off.

   R Kearney; T Bowe, B O'Driscoll (capt), P Wallace, L Fitzgerald; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, S Ferris, D Wallace, J Heaslip.

Replacements:

 R Best, T Court, M O'Driscoll, D Leamy, P Stringer, G D'Arcy, G Murphy.

 :Jimmie O':  

U are kidding me Jimmie. It was easier than it looked is a load of old bollocks and u know it. Ireland did not win that game it was England who gave it away.
1: Playing with 14 players twice to give the poor Irish a chance.
2: Down to 14 for your first try which should never have been allowed. Watch the replays and you will see the Irish clearly knock the ball on but it is compltely ignored by the ref. The ball gets worked again then the try. But it should have been a scrum with England put in for the knock on."
3. How many kicks O'Gara missed is irrelevant. THAT IS WHAT THE POST ARE FOR. You get the ball between them. If he can't do that then tough luck. Get a better kicker.

It is a complete travesty. The ref was biassed towards Ireland and coupled with England players getting binned that gave Ireland a game they should never have won.

15 against 15 for the 80mins and Ireland would have lost. They are not a team that deserves the grand slam if they get it.