England put faith in Flood but Johnno snubs Cipriani

Bad day: Danny Cipriani's Range Rover was clamped outside his London home just before discovering he had failed to win back his place in the England squad
Chris Jones13 April 2012

Danny Cipriani, back to his best form for London Wasps, was snubbed by England as Toby Flood was handed the problem No10 jersey against Ireland.

The fly-half was hoping to win a recall for Saturday's clash in Dublin having missed out on the squads for the opening two Six Nations matches this year.

But team manager Martin Johnson has decided that Flood will take over from Andy Goode, who started the win against Italy and the loss to Wales, with the Brive player relegated to the replacements' bench.

Johnson defended Cipriani's omission and said: "It was a close call but Andy is on the bench because it could be a tight game which may come down to goalkicking. That could be a factor."
The recall to the side for Flood signals the seventh change at outside-half in the last 10 matches for England.

Starting with Jonny Wilkinson in last year's Six Nations, then came Cipriani, Charlie Hodgson, Flood, Cipriani, Flood, Goode and now Flood for a third time in that sequence.

Johnson issued a challenge to the Leicester player as he said: "This is a big opportunity for Toby and the time is right for him."

Flood is confident of succeeding and said: "You want to put your hand up and hopefully I can do that. I don't believe those who have followed after Jonny Wilkinson have struggled. I have to just go out and do my best to nail this position down."

Johnson's admission that Flood's kicking and defence were major factors in his selection highlights a negativity around a team struggling in the Six Nations after the three Test defeats in November.

At Croke Park, England will be facing an unbeaten Ireland team, who will not be worried by the thought of Goode being used as an impact player from the bench — a tactic which confirms England's current safety-first approach.

It leaves Cipriani to continue performing well for Wasps in the hope he'll get back into the set-up. But former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio was unhappy with Goode's selection while he played in France, claiming it "sent out all the wrong messages".

Scrum-half Danny Care has now recovered from ankle ligament damage and takes over from Paul Hodgson in the replacements. Prop Tim Payne and utility back Ben Foden will travel to Ireland as cover in case of injury.

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