Friday 22 May 2015 17:21, UK
Former England coach Martin Johnson has backed Stuart Lancaster’s decision to omit Steffon Armitage and Nick Abendanon from his World Cup training squad ahead of the tournament which starts in September.
Armitage and Abendanon, who play for French clubs Toulon and Clermont respectively, were expected to miss out through the RFU’s policy of only selecting English-based players for the international arena.
On Wednesday, current England coach Lancaster named a 50-strong squad that will be reduced to 31 before the competition gets underway.
Lancaster had it within his powers to invoke an 'exceptional circumstances clause' that would have allowed him to choose Armitage and Abendanon, but decided against it.
And Johnson, England’s victorious skipper from 2003, agrees telling Sky Sports News HQ: “The guys have known what the rules are for a long time. And Stuart has stuck to it.
The guys have known what the rules are for a long time
“If you are not in the English League playing against English players they are not going to pick you. If you really want to come and play for England, and play in a World Cup, you know what you have to do and those two haven’t done it. I agree with the call.”
And former England captain Lewis Moody is also in agreement with Lancaster, insisting he had no choice but to leave Manu Tuilagi out of the party following his latest brush with the law.
The Leicester player was recently found guilty of assaulting two female police officers and Moody said: “Stuart was left with no other option. As a rugby player you are a role model. I feel disappointed for Manu and disappointed for England.
“Manu’s had a couple of incidents in the last few years. Maybe someone should have put their arm around him.
“But there was no guarantee he would play anyway, he hadn’t played for a long while and there was no guarantee he’d have been fit for the World Cup anyway.”
Moody also feels that rugby league convert Sam Burgess is better suited to centre than the back row.
Burgess was named in Lancaster's squad and Moody added: “I think centre is the best position for him. But, having said that, he’s in the back row at Bath and playing well.
“He’s a big ball carrier and playing rugby league, he got through 30 ball-carrying moments in a game, and 30 tackles a game and that’s certainly more of a back-rower’s stats than a centre.
“But will he be able to pick up the technicalities of line-outs and breakdown work, body positioning and mauls. That’s much harder for him, where at centre it’s a very simplistic approach.
“But at Bath he has got two quality players in Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph working with him.”
