Shaw flies out as Grewcock faces X-rays

Wasps lock Simon Shaw will fly to Australia tonight as a possible World Cup replacement for Danny Grewcock.

Shaw, who unluckily failed to secure a place in Clive Woodward’s 30-man England squad, has been summoned as injury cover.

Bath captain Grewcock hurt his left hand during England’s World Cup record 111-13 victory over Uruguay at Suncorp Stadium today.

He faces detailed X-ray checks tomorrow, and subject to those results, England will decide whether or not to pursue official channels for a replacement.

“I would like to thank Warren Gatland (Wasps rugby director) and London Wasps for their full support over this situation,” said Woodward.

It is the second injury misfortune that Grewcock has experienced Down Under.

He suffered a broken toe when an England colleague accidentally trod on his foot during the pre-match warm-up before the Pool C opener against Georgia in Perth last month.

And the Uruguay game was Grewcock’s first tournament appearance after recovering from that setback.

Woodward sent for Bath scrum-half Martyn Wood as cover earlier in the World Cup campaign while Matt Dawson and Kyran Bracken both battled injuries, but Wood returned home again after less than three days in Australia and did not officially join the squad.

Shaw, who was first capped against Italy seven years ago, now faces a similar journey, although it would appear that Grewcock’s injury could be serious.

The 30-year-old Shaw missed out behind Grewcock, Martin Johnson, Ben Kay and Martin Corry in Woodward’s original squad.

At the time, Woodward described his omission as one of the toughest selection calls he has had to make during six years in charge of England.