Former England skipper Steve Borthwick ruled out of the rugby team
England rugby team former skipper Steve Borthwick was dropped on Thursday by manager Martin Johnson from the final 32 men’s team. Borthwick was Johnson’s first choice as skipper for the first 20 tests but was later dropped down after he suffered a knee injury. The injury resulted in missing him the match against France at Six Nations final. In his absence the team will include players like Tom Palmer, Dave Attwood, Courtney Lawes and veteran Simon Shaw. For Johnson it was a hard decision to leave such a talented player out of the team and he regretted the decision very much.
Borthwick has been playing for England for a long time and had helped them in some tight spots. The former skipper after the decision felt very depressed but is still confident that he can jump back in the team with his good performance. Borthwick at present will be playing at England Saxon’s squad along with other players from the elite squad. The Saxon squad will hold players like wing Ugo Monye, lock Louis Deacon, centre Mathew Tait and scrum half Paul Hodgson. The squad looks in top form as it contains the veteran Borthwick this season. The players who qualified to the elite team include scrum half Ben Young, Flanker Hendrie Fourie, prop Paul Doran Jones and centre Dominic Waldouck. Also there are rumours of centre Mike Tindall joining the squad along with veterans Joe Worsley and George Chunter. Tindall will be joining the team after displaying some amazing performance in the test series.
Borthwick had been the teams favourite since he missed the match against France. The skipper was always backed by manager Martin Johnson in tight situations but was not able to make his way to the team this time. Borthwick’s place in the team was closed after a great display of performance was shown by Lawes in England’s win against the Australia Barbarians in Sydney. The 21 year old along with Attwood confirmed himself on the squad after showing an impressive performance on test tour. Attwood competed on all three midweek matches on tour and the 23 year old proved to be a strong player for England’s elite squad. The veterans Palmer, Borthwick and Shaw are no longer regarded as the top players in the squad as more and more strong performances are being shown by the rookies. Shaw, 36 years old, will be 38 when the rugby World Cup will start in the New Zealand. The lock still needs to show some performance in order to earn a place in the team for the World Cup.
Martin Johnson commented that lot of players are struggling to make their way in the team and are showing some extraordinary results. Johnson said that he felt sorry for leaving Borthwick and some other veteran players out of the squad as currently they are selecting the best possible team. Lot of the rookies that have entered the squad were given chances by Johnson to prove themselves in different matches. Borthwick after the decision said that even though he is not happy with the decision but still he is confident that he will make his way back into the squad. Borthwick joined the international team in 2000 and capped 57 matches for England. During his career as captain Borthwick faced much criticism but somehow every time he managed to counter them.
Johnson will take his selected elite squad for a pre-season training session for about a week on 8th August. The team will compete against Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Samoa in four autumn Tests at Twickenham. It is yet to be seen how Johnson’s new elite team will play against the top teams during the test session. The coach has made an early plan this year as the rugby World Cup will take place at New Zealand in 2012. The England side needs to be in their top form before the World Cup so they could prove themselves better in the field.
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