‘Devastated’ Moody out of Six Nations

ENGLAND flanker Lewis Moody is “devastated” to be missing the rest of the RBS 6 Nations Championship through injury.

He underwent surgery on his left shoulder in London on Wednesday.

The tear to his labrum muscle, suffered initially while playing with his club, Leicester Tigers, against Munster in the Heineken Cup, was exacerbated last week in training, ruling him out of the England squad as Brian Ashton’s men, inspired by a rejuvenated Johnny Wilkinson, beat Scotland 42-20 at Twickenham last Saturday.

With five tries in his last six outings for Leicester, Moody’s latest setback comes just as he was hitting form.

Recovering from the operation will keep Moody sidelined for at least the next six weeks according to medics.

Meanwhile, Italy’s Ramiro Pez admits the team’s injury problems are a “bitter blow” ahead of tomorrow’s Twickenham date with England.

The Azzurri will be without Mauro Bergamasco and Andrea Masi.

Pez said: “It is a bitter blow because both Bergamasco and Masi are key players for us. But we have two replacements and we hope they will be motivated and give their best against England.”

Italy’s injuries will be of particular concern to head coach Pierre Berbizier, who will be demanding an improved performance from his side in the wake of last weekend’s 39-3 mauling at the hands of France.

Pez revealed that Berbizier has managed to maintain morale within the camp.

He said: “I see the team very motivated despite our poor start to the competition. We have trained extremely hard this week, aware that we have to give everything in the 80 minutes on Saturday.

“We know that at this high standard we cannot make the mistakes we made against France and we want to prove our worth.

“Pierre Berbizier has reminded us we are playing in one of the most prestigious tournaments, he has said to us that we have to maintain our rhythm.

“The teams that we are going to face have experience, history and quality behind them – and we are still growing.

“That is why we must be 100% ready from a fitness stand-point in order to have a chance to be in the game.”

ITALY (v England, Twickenham, Saturday): R De Marigny (Calvisano); K Robertson (Arix Viadana), G Canale (Clermont Auvergne), Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), D Dallan (Stade Francais); A Scanavacca (Calvisano), A Troncon (Clermont Auvergne); A Lo Cicero (L’Aquila), C Festuccia (Gran Parma), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), S Dellape’ (Biarritz), M Bortolami (Gloucester, captain), J Sole (Arix Viadana), M Zaffiri (Calvisano), S Parisse (Stade Francais).

Replacements: F Ongaro (Saracens), S Perugini (Stade Toulousain), V Bernabo’ (Calvisano), R Mandelli (Gran Parma), P Griffen (Calvisano), R Pez (Bayonne), M Pratichetti (Calvisano).