Woodward keeps quiet over Wilkinson replacement

England coach Clive Woodward has already decided who will fill the boots of Jonny Wilkinson – but will wait for the weekend’s medical bulletins before unveiling the identity of his fly-half.

Wilkinson has been ruled out of the RBS 6 Nations opener against Italy on February 15 with an ongoing neck/shoulder injury while first choice replacement Charlie Hodgson is also unavailable due to his knee problem.

Their absences leave Paul Grayson, Alex King, Mike Catt and Olly Barkley to compete for the converted number 10 jersey, but with a full round of Zurich Premiership matches scheduled for this weekend, the options could be further reduced.

All four players will be in action for their clubs on Friday and Saturday and while Woodward insists it is too late for any of the quartet to alter his selectorial thinking, further injury news could prove decisive.

“There has been no great improvement in Jonny since yesterday, so you can take it as read that he won’t be playing next weekend,” said Woodward.

“I was 99% sure of that yesterday and today I’m 99.9% sure.

“I already know who I want to replace him – I just have to see what happens this weekend on the injury front.

“No-one is playing for their place, I just want to make sure the guy I have in mind comes through.

“I want to see how everyone comes through this weekend – there’s no point in saying who is going to play until I see everyone negotiate this weekend unscathed.

“We’re pretty spoilt for choice at fly-half at the moment. It’s not about chucking someone in to give them experience – we want to win the tournament and to do that we have to win the first game against Italy. It’s as simple as that.

Rookie Bath fly-half Barkley could force his way into the reckoning after enjoying a superb season for the Premiership leaders, and Woodward today voiced his admiration for the promising 22-year-old.

“I think a lot of Olly – I used him against America a couple of years ago.

“He’s made a lot of progress and is clearly playing very well. Bath have had a tremendous season and he’s been one of their standout players,” added Woodward.

“We always knew he was there but he just needed time to mature a bit, much like Jonny Wilkinson has done.

“He’s been at the training camp over the last couple of days and knows fly-half is a very competitive position when everyone is fit.”

There may be a number of capable deputies available to Woodward but Wilkinson is the undisputed number one and he will want his goalkicking ace to have made a full recovery in time for the potential Grand Slam decider against France on March 27.

However, Les Bleus coach Bernard Laporte also has problems following the international retirement of Fabien Galthie and Raphael Ibanez, two veterans who have served their country with distinction.

The World Cup provided the old war-horses with their international swan song and Laporte admits they will be difficult to replace, although he acknowledges that England have also lost a legend of the modern game.

“We’re in a rebuilding stage. Fabien and Raphael were very big players for us, they were very important,” he said.

“That sort of experience is very hard to replace and we will miss them,” he added.

“But England have injuries and of course Martin Johnson has retired – he was a great player and they will not be quite the same without him. But they have so much depth that they will be able to replace him.”

Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan is also facing the prospect of losing one of the greats of world rugby with the news that British Lions centre Brian O’Driscoll is still suffering from his hamstring tear.

O’Sullivan is prepared to give his skipper as much time as possible and will make a late decision on whether to select him for the Valentines Day clash with France in Paris.

“We always knew that Brian’s case was going to go down to the wire,” said O’Sullivan.

“I’m not trying to say he’s going to be fit when he isn’t, we really don’t know.

“I want him to play in Paris because he is a class player and the skipper of the team. But if he aggravated the injury because we’ve brought him back too early then it will be a mistake on my part.

“We want to give him every opportunity to play in Paris but we won’t take risks. The decision will be made in the middle of next week at the earliest and I’m happy to leave it that late.”