The Saracens number eight has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a knee ligament injury sustained in the weekend defeat to Wales. “Now time to give my all for England Rugby from the stands”.
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With 52 caps to his name he is the only surviving member of the 2007 squad that reached the final before losing to South Africa while he was also part of the ill-fated campaign four years ago in New Zealand.
Morgan is desperate to make the Pool A clash which could decide which side misses out on a quarter-final place after Wales’ shock victory over England last Saturday.
Easter just missed out on selection for the original 31-man squad and was superb against France in the second warm-up match.
England have played two games in the World Cup – a 35-11 win over Fiji and Saturday’s loss to Wales. “He is a specialist No.8 and an experienced player and we know he will make a big contribution”.
The national coach said: “I would say 50-50 for all three of Billy, Courtney and Ben Youngs, although with Ben maybe slightly better, so let’s call it 60-40”.
“We know what kind of a player Billy is and what he brings to the team. He was excellent against Wales but unfortunately he got caught under a maul”, Farrell said. With Joseph we are going to have to wait and see how he trains or if he can train on Tuesday.
“He’s been involved in some big games in World Cups before and been successful”.
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“Nick is an experienced guy who has been there and done it. He’s a smart guy who understands what pressure rugby is”.
