England head coach Martin Johnson has been dealt another major injury blow to his squad, with the news that captain Lewis Moody looks set to miss out on his side's first three matches in next month's Six Nations with a knee injury. The flanker suffered the knee ligament injury after an hour of Bath's 55-16 Heineken Cup win over Aironi and tests have revealed the full extent of the injury. Anyone looking to place Six Nations 2011 rugby bets should remember this when looking where to place their money.
The loss of Moody is the latest blow to England's forward pack which has already lost second-row Courtney Lawes and flanker Tom Croft with injury and Dave Attwood through his nine week ban for stamping. Johnson made it clear that losing Moody is a big blow but the coach is confident of finding a suitable replacement.
"It is always disappointing to lose a player and leader of Lewis' calibre but as I have consistently said, good teams adapt to injuries and that is what we intend to do," the coach said.
With the skipper looking likely to miss games against Wales, Italy and France, Johnson will need to name a new skipper until Moody returns and the Six Nations rugby betting suggests his choice could be crucial. Harlequins number eight Nick Easter and Gloucester centre Mike Tindall will be the two most likely candidates for the job, both are definitely experienced enough to step up.
Johnson will name a replacement for Moody later this month and the new skipper will be announced a week before their opening game of tournament against Wales on February 5th. Whoever gets the nod will have some pretty big boots to fill though.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment