DUNCAN BELL, the Bath prop forward whose hopes of playing for Wales were dashed two months ago, is poised to make his debut for England next weekend. Injuries to the country’s two leading tight-head props have created a vacancy that Bell, 30, is as well-placed as anyone to fill.
Andy Robinson, the England head coach, is not due to confirm his starting XV to play Ireland at Lansdowne Road on Sunday in the third round of the RBS Six Nations Championship, until tomorrow, but he has lost Phil Vickery, the experienced Gloucester forward, with a broken arm that will keep him out of the remainder of the championship and was already without Julian White, of Leicester, who is recovering from a neck injury.
Neither of the remaining props in the England training squad, Matt Stevens and Andrew Sheridan, have extensive experience on the tight-head side or half the all-round experience that Bell can bring to the game. In addition, Bell played in the England side that beat France in the A international at Bath ten days ago and, by that criterion alone, stands third in the queue.
If he is named to win his first cap, it will finally complete a seven-year circle. Bell toured with England on the notorious southern-hemisphere tour in 1998 and made one appearance as a replacement against the New Zealand Academy XV. But he had already done enough to destroy his subsequent ambition to qualify for Wales on residential grounds by his selection among the replacements for England’s 76-0 defeat by Australia in Brisbane.
After that tour, Bell heard little to encourage his England hopes from Clive Woodward or his management team. He moved from Harlequins to Sale and then to Pontypridd and Ebbw Vale, making himself available for Wales, where he had made his home. When, in December, he lost his appeal against an International Rugby Board ruling that he was not eligible for Wales, his stock rose once more in English eyes.
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“It’s every player’s aspiration to play for his country,” Bell, 6ft 2in and 19st 2lb, said after scoring England’s first try in the A international, when Robinson saw him take the man-of-the-match award. But the coach has more than just his front row — and defeats in the first two matches — to worry about. Olly Barkley tweaked a calf muscle in training for Bath on Friday and withdrew from the match against Gloucester in which Vickery was injured, while another midfield player, Henry Paul, did not complete the same fixture because of a damaged ankle.
Robinson has not had his troubles to seek since taking over from Woodward. Vickery’s broken arm brings to 14 the capped players who are unavailable through injury: Jonny Wilkinson, Richard Hill and Will Greenwood head the list of White, Mike Tindall, Stuart Abbott, Trevor Woodman, Alex Sanderson, David Flatman, Fraser Waters, Michael Lipman, Dan Scarbrough and Geoff Appleford, while such uncapped players as Andy Beattie have also been ruled out. It is a drain that not even England, with all their resources, can afford.
Vickery had an operation for the insertion of a plate in his right arm on Saturday evening and will be out for six weeks at just the period when contenders for the British Isles tour to New Zealand in the summer — of whom he would certainly be one — are pressing their final claims.
The arguments against Stevens or Sheridan stepping up are considerable. Stevens, though Bath claim that he can play on both sides of the scrum, has had much of his experience on the loose-head side and, at 22, is still learning his trade, while Sheridan is a relatively recent convert from the back five of the pack who also plays loose-head. Bell, moreover, has played twice against Reggie Corrigan, the Ireland loose-head prop, this season — for Bath against Leinster in the Heineken Cup — and knows his style of play.
Barkley and Paul will be assessed by the England medical staff today, but John Connolly, the Bath coach, rated Barkley’s prospects for Dublin no higher than 50-50. Robinson has, in any case, a midfield conundrum to solve in the continuing good form of Ollie Smith, who scored two tries in Leicester’s demolition of Newcastle Falcons on Saturday.
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Smith was overlooked against Wales in favour of Mathew Tait, the Newcastle youngster whose inexperience was mercilessly exposed by Leicester, and against France in favour of Jamie Noon, the other Newcastle centre. Were Barkley to withdraw, Smith and Noon could combine, while Andy Goode’s remorseless form with the boot for Leicester gave further validation of his claims to play at fly half.
At least yesterday’s two Zurich Premiership matches brought Robinson and England no further bad news. Johnny O’Connor, the Ireland flanker, hobbled out of the London Wasps-Northampton match but is expected to be available at Lansdowne Road, while Jason White, the Sale Sharks flanker, will be assessed by Scotland today after a knee injury in his club’s win on Friday over Leeds Tykes.