So when Andy Farrell did everything he could to avoid admitting that Joseph would miss Saturday’s clash with Wales with a chest injury, it started alarm bells ringing for England.
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“At the start of every Test week we have bumps and bruises”. But nothing significant. JJ [Joseph] has a bit of a knock, nothing too serious.
“It’s hard but we’ve just got to focus on the task in hand and there’s no better opportunity to come up here and play England in their own back yard”, he said.
“We’ll give JJ every chance to prove his fitness”.
Wigglesworth is one of several players pushing to start against Wales after impressing off the bench on the opening night and his argument for selection has been strengthened by Ben Youngs’ below-par evening at scrum-half.
“Liam Williams got a knock on the thigh, Samson Lee and Paul James have got tight calves, and Dan Lydiate had a head assessement and has passed that so he’s able to take a full part in training next week”, Gatland said. “We know the type of game that they will want to play”.
England know a substantial improvement will be needed if Wales are to be dispatched, even if Warren Gatland’s men have lost star backs Leigh Halfpenny, Jonathan Davies and Rhys Webb to injury for the entire tournament.
Speaking at Tuesday’s press conference, Farrell said that thankfully the player is not at risk of missing more than one game.
“We always knew that when we got a 31-man squad we were going to have a strong team on the day”.
“His first game was very good, against Ireland [in the final World Cup warm-up match]”, Farrell said.
It had little bearing on the result, a 35-11 England win, but Stuart Lancaster’s team will need to be more convincing against the Welsh. He’s been involved in some big games for us and made a massive difference.
“Everyone is unbelievably excited about it, worldwide”. Everyone has been looking forward to it for years. “Predictions and form in games like this go out the window”, Farrell explained.
“It’s about our preparation, about getting that right, and about emotionally getting them in the right place to give the performance of their lives this weekend”.
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“Obviously, there is a lot of pressure on them (England), but I am sure they will rise to it, as we will rise to it, going to Twickenham“. Morgan did not train with England on Monday as the team prepare for the the Pool A encounter at Twickenham.
