Woodward reeling from Hodgson blow

England boss Clive Woodward tonight described the potential absence of Charlie Hodgson from his RBS 6 Nations Championship plans as “a huge, huge loss”.

Sale Sharks’ fly-half Hodgson joined England’s seemingly endless casualty list after suffering suspected knee ligament damage during the 40-5 victory over Italy at Twickenham yesterday.

He had been on the field for just six minutes after replacing injured captain Jonny Wilkinson.

The 22-year-old returned home from England duty today, and is set to undergo an MRI scan tomorrow amid fears he could face a long lay-off.

“Charlie Hodgson is a huge, huge loss,” Woodward said.

“We think all the signs are that he is not going to be available for the Scotland match on Saturday week, or the rest of the RBS Six Nations tournament. We will know more in the next 48 hours if it’s worse than that.

“Potentially, I was going to start Charlie for Scotland and give Jonny Wilkinson a weekend off.”

With realistic long-term concerns about Hodgson, Woodward can now only keep his fingers crossed that some of his other injured players will be available for the Calcutta Cup clash.

Martin Johnson (Achilles), Jason Robinson (knee), Ben Cohen (thigh) and Neil Back (calf) all missed the Italy game, but should be fit to face Scotland.

“I am hoping that everyone goes through this weekend’s Premiership games injury-free. With Martin Johnson, Neil Back, Jason Robinson and Ben Cohen back, we will have some interesting selection decisions,” he added.

Fly-half Wilkinson, meanwhile, expects to play for Newcastle against Leicester next Sunday. He reported no serious problems despite taking a heavy blow on his right shoulder.

And flanker Richard Hill’s slight groin strain is not likely to keep him out of Saracens’ Premiership appointment with Wasps, also next Sunday.

England’s victory against Italy, achieved through a staggering 33-point blitz inside the opening 22 minutes, kept them on course for a first Grand Slam since 1995.

But, as with the wins against France and Wales last month, England failed to produce anything remotely like an 80-minute performance.

“The first 20-25 minutes brought lots of plusses that outweigh any minuses that came from the rest of the game,” Woodward said.

“We certainly took our foot off the pedal, and we started losing our own lineout ball, the scrum became a bit slow and there were a couple of silly knock-ons.

“In the cold light of day, it has happened, and we are a little bit disappointed with the last hour, but the first 20-25 minutes, with what was in many ways a new team, was fantastic.

“We are getting very self-critical, and some of the media are getting very critical, and rightly so. There are incredible expectations, and we all want to live up to them.”

Woodward singled out three individual displays, praising try-scorers Josh Lewsey and Mike Tindall, in addition to prop Graham Rowntree.

“Josh will be very pleased, and I am delighted for him. His chance came, and he took it very well. I thought Mike Tindall was just fantastic – when he is fit and on the top of his game, then he is a world-class player – and Rowntree was outstanding, brilliant.

“We are currently ahead of Ireland by three points on points difference, and are really, really hoping that we can beat Scotland. I hope Ireland can beat Wales.

“We all know that we are not quite at our best yet, but the championship has the ability to come up with some exciting games, and our next two should be brilliant.”