We have agreed that he will rejoin the squad next week as we prepare for our Test match with Argentina.”While Healey’s promotion gives the England team a more settled look – the “Leicester Lip” has been central to the red rose army’s attacking game since Woodward first picked him on the wing for the 26-all draw with New Zealand three years ago – there will be considerable sympathy for Cohen, whose forthright finishing in the Six Nations’ Championship marked him out as a player of genuine potential. He lost his place to Dan Luger for the first of the summer Tests in South Africa, but replaced the same player for the second in Bloemfontein and contributed fully to a famous English victory with some heavy-duty tackling.It will be fascinating to see whether the manager now reverts to the fluid, Healey-based offensive strategy employed by England during their World Cup warm-up matches last year. Cohen would have provided plenty of raw power, but his replacement is equipped with a real footballer’s brain Woodward will surely make full use of it.. France have expressed mixed feelings about the absence of Jonah Lomu in Saturday’s second Test. The powerful New Zealand wing yesterday flew home to undergo surgery after fracturing his cheekbone. France have expressed mixed feelings about the absence of Jonah Lomu in Saturday’s second Test. The powerful New Zealand wing yesterday flew home to undergo surgery after fracturing his cheekbone.
“Psychologically, it can be a good thing for the guys, but once on the pitch we couldn’t say he [Lomu] did us a lot of harm last week,” said the French coach, Bernard Laporte, after announcing his team in Marseilles “Lomu played very wisely on Saturday.

They were leading on the scoring board and he avoided risks.”The Tricolores’ team manager, Jo Maso, added: “In his good days, Lomu can knock over four guys and score a try. But he’s not really good at defending, and it can be a great help. His replacement is little known but you must not forget he’s an All Black, so he’s quick and dangerous.”It’s been a very long time that he’s been waiting in the shadows of Lomu for his time to come. And he must have great motivation.”Laporte decided to make two changes, replacing the prop Christian Califano with Peter De Villiers and calling up the winger Philippe Bernat-Salles in place of the injured Thomas Lombard.Bruce Reihana will take over on the left wing in the only change from the All Black team who won the first Test in Paris 39-26 last weekend. When Reihana earns his first cap he will be lining up against a country he had considered playing for just 12 months earlier.Reihana thought seriously about appearing for France following the All Blacks’ memorable defeat by the Europeans in the 1999 World Cup. The 24-year-old, who plays Super 12 rugby for Waikato Chiefs, would have been eligible to play for France as his mother, Nicole, who married a Maori, is French. “After New Zealand’s World Cup semi-final defeat I was tempted to play for France,” he revealed.

“But eventually I gave up the idea, and I think I made the good choice.”. The very best tend to make their own rules rather than follow everyone else’s, so there were no reports of shockwaves in south-west London yesterday when the Australia coach, Rod Macqueen, decided to fly in the face of received wisdom by changing a winning side. Jim Williams, born in the New South Wales town of Young but now very definitely in the veteran category, will replace Matt Cockbain in the world champions’ back row against England at Twickenham on Saturday. The very best tend to make their own rules rather than follow everyone else’s, so there were no reports of shockwaves in south-west London yesterday when the Australia coach, Rod Macqueen, decided to fly in the face of received wisdom by changing a winning side. Jim Williams, born in the New South Wales town of Young but now very definitely in the veteran category, will replace Matt Cockbain in the world champions’ back row against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
“Jim has been one of our most powerful runners all year, and he could give us some early attacking opportunities,” said Macqueen, whose choice of the word “early” suggested that Cockbain, his preferred blind-side flanker for the last three years, will get a run at some point during the game.

The Wallabies clearly intend to meet muscle with muscle; the combination of the 30-year-old Williams and the Tongan-born No 8 Toutai Kefu will ensure a degree of parity in the grunt and groan department. However, Cockbain is a useful line-out forward whose athleticism might prove priceless in the latter stages of a tight game.Williams is a born-again loosie who began his senior career as an out-and-out wing. He played a season at West Hartlepool in 1994-95 – rather a shock to the system for someone with an Australian’s winning habit – before flying home to sample Super 12 with the New South Wales Waratahs. He quickly graduated to the Wallabies’ World Cup Sevens squad, won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal as a short game specialist in 1998 and then completed a wholly unexpected climb to the top of the tree by winning a first cap against Ireland last year.Macqueen’s assumption that England will ask some serious physical questions is further reflected in his bench selection, where there is a five-two split between forwards and backs.