FLOOD: WOUNDED ENGLAND WILL FIGHT ALL BLACKS
Toby Flood has been handed Danny Cipriani's No10 shirt against New Zealand and is ready to make some headlines of his own. Martin Johnson has given the Leicester Tigers fly-half a chance after Cipriani mis-fired against Australia and South Africa.
The 23-year-old will win his 22nd cap on Saturday at Twickenham and he believes that "wounded" England will raise their game after last week's 42-6 defeat to the Boks. Flood says that England will do everything in their power to stop the All Blacks gaining their second Grand Slam of the Northern Hemisphere in three years.
"It is wonderful to be back in the team," he said. "I've been waiting with bated breath to get a chance. Being on the bench is always such a difficult position because it is a halfway house - you are kind of in the team but you know you might only get 20 minutes.
"Having Danny in the team hasn't affected me - I have just been concentrating on my game. We are all in the same squad and when he was given the No10 shirt I congratulated him and he has congratulated me this week."
Flood is confident Johnson's team - which also sees lock Nick Kennedy recalled for Tom Palmer and Michael Lipman in for flanker Tom Rees - will use the pain from last weekend's loss to hurt the Tri-Nations winners.
He added: "The lads are disappointed after England's worst result at home in a long time. But we gave ourselves 24 hours to get over it and, having seen the guys train this week, the response has been fantastic. We have been trying to raise our game to a higher standard every day.
"All the teams in the Tri-Nations are excellent but the All Blacks are the team you really want to beat. They are going for their Grand Slam but I think we are looking forward to that. We happen to be a wounded team who are looking to turn things around."
Toby Flood has been handed Danny Cipriani's No10 shirt against New Zealand and is ready to make some headlines of his own. Martin Johnson has given the Leicester Tigers fly-half a chance after Cipriani mis-fired against Australia and South Africa.
The 23-year-old will win his 22nd cap on Saturday at Twickenham and he believes that "wounded" England will raise their game after last week's 42-6 defeat to the Boks. Flood says that England will do everything in their power to stop the All Blacks gaining their second Grand Slam of the Northern Hemisphere in three years.
"It is wonderful to be back in the team," he said. "I've been waiting with bated breath to get a chance. Being on the bench is always such a difficult position because it is a halfway house - you are kind of in the team but you know you might only get 20 minutes.
"Having Danny in the team hasn't affected me - I have just been concentrating on my game. We are all in the same squad and when he was given the No10 shirt I congratulated him and he has congratulated me this week."
Flood is confident Johnson's team - which also sees lock Nick Kennedy recalled for Tom Palmer and Michael Lipman in for flanker Tom Rees - will use the pain from last weekend's loss to hurt the Tri-Nations winners.
He added: "The lads are disappointed after England's worst result at home in a long time. But we gave ourselves 24 hours to get over it and, having seen the guys train this week, the response has been fantastic. We have been trying to raise our game to a higher standard every day.
"All the teams in the Tri-Nations are excellent but the All Blacks are the team you really want to beat. They are going for their Grand Slam but I think we are looking forward to that. We happen to be a wounded team who are looking to turn things around."
Labels: All Blacks, Martin Johnson, New Zealand, Toby Flood
