Tindall recalled as captain as Johnson experiments once again
Published:If Martin Johnson knows his best England team he’s certainly keeping his cards close to his chest.
The England coach has made 13 changes to the side that played Wales at Twickenham last Saturday for the rematch with Wales at the Millennium Stadium this Saturday.
Mike Tindall returns at centre to captain the team and will be joined in the back division by Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Shontayne Hape, Toby Flood and Richard Wigglesworth with Mark Cueto retaining his place.
Up front only Alex Cobisiero retains his place as Steve Thompson, Dan Cole, Louis Deacon, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Henrie Fourie and Nick Easter are all handed a start.
With the World Cup now just two games away these warm-up matches offer the squad members the last chance to impress and you can guarantee commitment from this England side on Saturday.
Having beaten Wales by four points at Twickenham, the England camp know they are in for a battle at the Millennium Stadium although there are elements to this team that are a lot stronger than the side picked for the Twickenham match.
The front row remains very strong while the second row pairing will excite many England fans who will be hoping to see both Deacon and Lawes line-up against Argentina.
The back row looks strong but Nick Easter needs a big performance to oust James Haskell at number eight and Tom Wood needs to shine in the absence of Moody.
Wigglesworth is behind both Care and Youngs in the pecking order but the injury to Youngs hands him his chance while there is plenty of pressure on Flood’s shoulders at number 10.
Jonny Wilkinson was in fine form last week and Flood knows he has to match Wilkinson’s levels or he will come in for plenty of criticism.
The rest of the back line are the same players that played key roles in England’s Six Nations win so Johnson will be eager to see if they can maintain their strong form as a unit.
