IF ANDY ROBINSON believed he had a difficult decision to make regarding the composition of the England back row to play Wales at Twickenham on Saturday, fate has taken a hand. Pat Sanderson, the Worcester flanker who played so well during the autumn internationals, has suffered another back injury and will be unavailable for at least the first three games in the 2006 RBS Six Nations Championship.
Robinson, the head coach, has the resources to hand to cover Sanderson’s absence, but it is a big blow for the player. After being capped on England’s tour to the southern hemisphere in 1998 and again in North America in 2001, Sanderson, 28, was ignored until this season, when he played in a home international for the first time, against Australia.
He did everything he could to make up for the lost years but was forced to rest his back in mid-December. He returned to action in the Guinness Premiership in Worcester’s win over Bristol last Friday, although he did not finish the match; a head wound kept him out of the second half.
The initial prognosis for his back injury is an absence of four to six weeks. “I am obviously gutted,” Sanderson said. “I feel things went well for me in the autumn and I worked hard to get back for last week. But you have to accept that these things happen in rugby and I’m just looking forward to getting fit for Worcester and, hopefully, England.”
Robinson acknowledged that Sanderson, capped nine times, would be “sorely missed”, but the misfortune may help him to resolve his back-row equation. He would have chosen Joe Worsley in the autumn, alongside Martin Corry and Lewis Moody, but for a knee injury to the London Wasps flanker. Now he can do so if he believes that Corry, his captain, has recovered from bruised ribs and Moody is in the right frame of mind after a nine-week suspension.
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Lawrence Dallaglio played on the blind-side flank for Wasps in their defeat by Bath on Saturday, moving to his accustomed position of No 8 only after an injury to John Hart. But Worsley’s form this season and in recent games suggests that he is the more likely candidate for Sanderson’s No 6 jersey and Leicester are confident that Corry, omitted from the game with Sale Sharks, will be ready for England.
Moody failed to reach half-time in the same drawn game after receiving a yellow card for an early challenge on Sébastien Chabal. He did not return from the sin-bin because Leicester chose not to risk yellow turning to red for over-enthusiasm in a season where Moody has already spent 15 weeks on the sidelines from two seperate suspensions.
“When I was carded I was going for the ball,” Moody, who was banned for fighting during the international with Samoa on November 26, said. “But the wind played a big part today, the ball was all over the shop and sometimes it’s difficult to judge the catch.” During his absence, Moody has worked with Paddy Mortimer, the strength and conditioning coach to Leicester’s academy who also helps the players with their mental preparation.
“My mind is in the right place and that’s great,” Moody said. “It will be absolutely huge if I’m picked next weekend but that’s not in my hands. It will be a difficult decision, but they (England) know what I’m capable of, what my game’s about. I’ll be the same player but more mentally composed.”
Moody’s colleague, George Chuter, has also withdrawn from the squad that will be reduced to 26 today, while the starting XV against Wales will be confirmed tomorrow. Chuter, the Leicester hooker, damaged medial knee ligaments against Sale.
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Gareth Thomas, the Wales captain, went to hospital in Pau shortly after Toulouse’s 27-13 win over the local club on Saturday. Thomas was a second-half replacement and took a blow to the head in the closing moments. He was able to return home and left to join the Wales squad yesterday as scheduled, but Mike Ruddock, the coach, does not yet know if Dafydd Jones will be available for selection. The Llanelli Scarlets flanker was sent off during Friday’s Celtic League defeat by Ulster and disciplinary proceedings have yet to be confirmed.