Johnson: Atwood ban cost him England place

Banned England lock Dave Attwood was issued with a stark warning after being axed from Martin Johnson's 33-man senior squad.

Attwood was replaced by Louis Deacon yesterday after Johnson decided he could not carry a player who would miss the first two games of the RBS 6 Nations through suspension.

The hard-edged Gloucester lock is serving a nine-week ban for stamping. The suspension expires the Monday before England play France so he will probably miss that Test too.

With Courtney Lawes potentially sidelined for three months with a knee injury, Attwood had a strong chance to press his claims for a starting England jersey.

Instead, Johnson has relegated the 23-year-old to the England Saxons.
'He (Attwood) is a bright lad and it is pretty obvious he has damaged his opportunity,' Johnson said. 'You take yourself out of the running for nine weeks it can be tough. There would have been an opportunity for him to be involved.


'It is a chance for him to get in the best possible shape, come back fresh, ready to go and have a blast for the last two and a half months of the season and put himself in contention for the World Cup camp.

'With Louis' form, bringing him back in was an easy decision to make.'

Deacon's inclusion was one of three alterations to the senior elite squad.

Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson received a call-up in place of injured club-mate Dom Waldouck while Saracens-bound fly-half Charlie Hodgson was added to an expanded 33-man squad.
Lawes and Tom Croft, who is recovering from a fractured shoulder, were both included in the hope they would be fit before the end of the tournament.

Johnson will name the temporary injury replacements for Lawes and Croft after the next two rounds of European action. Former captain Steve Borthwick and Northampton flanker Tom Wood are the leading candidates.

'Tom and Courtney both have a chance of playing rugby by the end of the tournament,' Johnson said.

'Tom is making good progress with the Leicester medics and our guys and it is the same with Courtney, so they are both week to week and hopefully they will be fitter sooner rather than later and make the end of the tournament.

'Courtney saw the specialist last night and, like in all these things, straight after the injury they take an image and interpret that.

'I would love him to be out for just six weeks, it may be 10 weeks but it is probably going to be eight or nine weeks. These things can change week by week.'