Goode to start for England
Andy Goode named as starting fly-half for England v Italy
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Tuesday, 03, Feb 2009 10:58
Brive fly-half Andy Goode has been named as a surprise starter for England's opening Six Nations match against Italy on Saturday.
With Toby Flood injured in training and Danny Cipriani relegated to the Saxons set-up yesterday, Goode sees his name called to play as an orthodox number ten outside young Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care.
Goode who was only invited to train with the squad in Portugal last week as an afterthought when he was overlooked by team manager Martin Johnson in the original elite squad announcement, making his starting place all the more surprising.
Riki Flutey (Wasps) and Mike Tindall (Gloucester) have been named as the centres outside Goode, with the surprise package of the autumn internationals, London Irish’s Delon Armitage, at full-back and an experienced wing combination of Wasps' Paul Sackey and the recalled Mark Cueto of Sale.
The pack sees another surprise selection with Armitage's brother and Exiles team-mate Steffon handed a start at flanker alongside Wasps' James Haskell and Harlequins number eight Nick Easter in the back row.
The front five as a more familiar look, however, with hooker Lee Mears flanked by props Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery, with the two second row berths being taken by captain Steve Borthwick and Nick Kennedy.
Full England team to face Italy on Saturday February 7th at Twickenham:
15 Delon Armitage (London Irish)
14 Paul Sackey (London Wasps)
13 Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
12 Riki Flutey (London Wasps)
11 Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
10 Andy Goode (Brive)
9 Danny Care (Harlequins)
1 Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
2 Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
3 Phil Vickery (London Wasps)
4 Steve Borthwick (Saracens, captain)
5 Nick Kennedy (London Irish)
6 James Haskell (London Wasps)
7 Steffon Armitage (London Irish)
8 Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Replacements
16 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
17 Julian White (Leicester Tigers)
18 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
19 Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
20 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
21 Shane Geraghty (London Irish)
22 Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)