Mark Cueto is struggling with a stomach illness and may not be fit enough to play Ireland on Saturday. Chris Ashton has been called into Pennyhill Park as cover just in case.
Cueto has been a fairly solid option in his last few outings for England, but many of the comments on The Rugby Blog suggest that Ashton should be given a shout.
We’ll await further news from the England camp, but this change might not be such bad news, with the Guinness Premiership’s most potent finisher coming into the side.
Armitage is surely able to switch to wing? That would mean Foden gets a shout at full back. But as we all know, Johnno’s unlikely to blood a new cap in a crucial game like Ireland, certainly not in the opening 75 minutes anyway.
I too am a fan of Cueto’s consistency and think he’s been a decent player, even more so of late, but I almost want to see Johnno’s hand forced to see what he might actually do. He’ll probably play Deacon at 14….
Cueto is fit apparently…
‘Thanks for coming down Chris, off you go again’.