Hodgson to keep England place as Flood’s sent home
SARACENS fly-half Charlie Hodgson looks set to continue his England renaissance against Italy on Saturday after his main rival for the No10 shirt Toby Flood was sent back to his club Leicester yesterday.
Head coach Stuart Lancaster has decided that Flood, who made his comeback from injury for the Tigers last Saturday and has spent the last two days training with the national team, needs more game time before making his Test return.
Meanwhile, England have been warned to expect an atmosphere every bit as hostile as the cauldron of Murrayfield when they meet Italy in the second match of their Six Nations defence in Rome.
But having tamed the Edinburgh crowd in their opening fixture, assistant coach Andy Farrell believes the new-look England side have the nerve to cope with the occasion.
“We are not concerned about what lies ahead because the culture we are trying to drive gets us in the right place all the time,” Farrell said.
Frozen pitches forced England to train indoors yesterday at Canary Wharf’s London Soccer Dome, but Farrell played down the effect it would have on their preparations.