Moody Blues for England Captain

Friday 21 January 2011
Published By: Amy Nicholson
International Rugby > England

Perhaps rolling in a field with 15 Welshman in rugby shirts wasn’t top of his “things to do” list this winter. You can’t blame him I suppose; it’s not on many peoples list, except maybe Gareth Thomas’s.

But for England Captain Lewis Moody, the chance to get more closely acquainted with his Welsh counterparts was cruelly taken away from him as a knee injury he sustained playing for Bath against Aironi ruled him out for England’s opening game against Wales.

The loss of Moody, a man known for putting his head most rugby players wouldn’t dare put their feet, is a massive blow to England’s preparations. Having already suffered the loss of Courtney Lawes and Tom Croft, head coach Martin Johnson will bemoan the loss of these key players; if the walls aren’t caving in around Johnson and his preparations then the foundations have subsided and the kitchen stove is playing up.

England will now look to recover from this setback by counting on both hands the points they will save in penalties they won’t give away with Moody on the side-lines.

But fear not, England’s skipper has targeted a return for the third game of the tournament against France. Le Blues (eh? See what I did with the headline there? Eh? And you thought he was described as “blue” only because he is missing the start of the tournament, you fool!) represent the largest obstacle on England’s path to Six Nations success and with their captain promising to return in time to lead the team out English fans can once more dream of a Grand Slam.

In the meantime, step forward Nick Easter. He of singular eyebrow has thrust his chubby ham fist skywards after Johnson asked who would like a go at being Captain for a few weeks.

After asking Mike Tindall, Mark Cueto, Toby Flood, Andrew Sheridan, the kit man and a stern looking chap he saw on the way to the training ground, Johnson will likely decide he is the right man for the job.

A man old enough to have worn a rugby world cup shirt in the first ever tournament represents the best England have to offer apparently. Great.

The Harlequins man is a formidable force and will relish the honour of captaincy. The armband is at least safe in his hands until Moody returns for what should be the most open and exciting Six Nations in years.

While England will no doubt feel the, ahem, force of Wales they have the trio of Ben Young, Chris Ashton and Bed Foden as a creative force to excite the crowd with displays of thrilling attacking play.

Wales themselves are not without their problems aside from the obvious and will miss the presence of Adam Jones - the figurehead of their side. But they will feel slightly better for not having to coming up against the England Captain.