Ashton Swaps His Inside Backs

Brian Ashton believes England will have an excess of fly-halfs on the pitch against South Africa tomorrow night rather than a shortage, with both Andy Farrell and Mike Catt taking on the role at different stages of the game. Yesterday's initial announcement that Farrell would be in that position had caused some bemusement given his lack of experience there, while Mike Catt, who has spent most of his club career in the No10 shirt, was languishing outside him at inside-center.

"I see both of them playing as inside backs, mixing and matching through the game," Ashton said today. When pressed, he suggested that Catt "will wear 10, and Farrell 12", which contradicts England's previous selection. "If I didn't think they could do it, I wouldn't have picked them," Ashton continued.

In all likelihood Farrell will play fly-half at the set-pieces, while Catt will take over in loose play. Catt's kicking ability has been increasingly hampered by his back and thigh troubles in recent years, which will put the onus on Farrell's boot. It is with that in mind that Ashton has picked all three of his scrum-halfs in his match squad, with Andy Gomarsall confirmed as England's deputy goal-kicker should Farrell be injured.

Phil Vickery's ban, along with the necessity of having three props in the playing squad under IRB regulations, means that Darren Crompton has been brought out to France as emergency cover for the front row. Crompton, a 34-year-old veteran from Bristol, has only one cap to his name from the recent tour of South Africa. England have received special dispensation from the IRB for the late call-up. Crompton has not yet become an official member of the squad, but will do so if there are any further injuries or bans. Ashton said that his first reserve had been Sale's Stuart Turner, but he was injured.

England's reluctance to summon Toby Flood as cover stems from the fact that both Olly Barkley and Jonny Wilkinson are expected to be fit to face Samoa. Ashton believes it would be premature to send one of them home as they would be unable to re-join the squad unless there were further injuries at a later stage.

Looking ahead to the South Africa match tomorrow night, Ashton said: "There is a mood in the squad that I've not seen before, not since I took over in January. I've disregarded that last performance [against the USA]. That will not happen again. Nobody wants to be associated with a game like that." Asked to clarify what that mood was exactly, Ashton replied simply, "we're ready".

His new captain, Martin Corry, confirmed that feeling. "We've had the rollockings earlier in the week, and we deserved them," he said. "All we want to do now is put it all right in our next game. We've drawn strength from all the adversity. It's been great in that it has brought the squad together, and in games like this we'll take any motivation we can."

Ashton opened the conference in laconic mood. "I looked out my window today and I saw a clear sky," he said, "and I thought, it won't be long before that bloody piano drops out of it." For all the gloss that England have put on their travails, the worry is that the piano will arrive slightly later than Ashton anticipated, around about the final whistle on Friday evening.