Nevertheless today’s announcement of the England team to face France at Twickenham on Saturday will have cost the manager just a little beauty

Nevertheless, today’s announcement of the England team to face France at Twickenham on Saturday will have cost the manager just a little beauty sleep over the last 48 hours, especially as Jonny Wilkinson, his chief points gatherer, is nursing a neck injury that may turn into a full-blown medical condition if the Boy Wonder is not very careful.According to Rob Andrew, the director of rugby at Newcastle and Wilkinson’s personal philosopher king, the goal-kicking outside-half will recover from this latest scare in good time to take on the much maligned Tricolores “It’s the usual problem,” Andrew said “The injury has been an issue for two or three years now. Jonny has a thin spinal column, and that tends to cause him problems if he makes a really big hit from a bad position. All he needs is a bit of rest.”Somehow, it did not sound entirely convincing. Phil Vickery, the Gloucester prop, also thought his neck needed “a bit of rest” when he first found himself unable to scrummage a couple of years ago. As it turned out, it needed an awful lot of rest: indeed, Vickery’s career came under serious threat during the 1998-99 campaign.

The fact that the West Countryman’s neck is playing up again means Woodward must tinker with his front-row combination for the France game. Julian White, of Saracens, not exactly an injury-free prop but fully fit at the moment, should get the nod.The more serious decision is at second row, where Danny Grewcock’s fractured jaw means Woodward must choose between the experienced Simon Shaw, the dependable back-five utility man Martin Corry and the uncapped Steve Borthwick. Woodward’s instincts tend towards Borthwick, because he performed with unbridled energy and intelligence with the midweek team on last summer’s tour of Springbok country. The Bath lock has captained England A this season and is considered a fast learner.On the other hand, Shaw remains the most potent ball-carrying lock in England.

That is a major consideration against the ultra-physical forwards resident in the French pack, and the fact that Shaw has been there and done it at Six Nations level puts him neck and neck with his more junior rival. The eternally patient Corry will probably have to make do with another afternoon on the bench.There were no great decisions confronting Graham Henry as he unveiled an unchanged Wales side for this Sunday’s tangle with the Italians in Rome. “The team pretty much picked itself,” said the coach, who kept faith with Scott Gibbs in midfield despite confident predictions to the contrary and named both Rob Howley and Gareth Thomas for their 50th caps. “It’s a vote of confidence for the players who won in Paris; consistency is important when you’re up against a team as highly motivated as Italy.”They should have beaten the Scots at Murrayfield, and they gave both Ireland and France a hard game in Rome. The only side they had real trouble with was England, and one or two other teams have had problems with them.

Italy are better than they’ve ever been and they won’t want to be burdened with a Six Nations whitewash It will be a kitchen sink job, for sure.”. England and Saracens second row Danny Grewcock has signed for Bath. Danny Grewcock, the Saracens and England second row forward, today signed for Bath.Grewcock, 28, will make the switch at the start of next season in what is a major coup for Bath.He has 24 England caps and looks a certainty to tour with the Lions this summer in Australia.Grewcock, currently sidelined with a broken jaw he sustained recently against Bristol, said: “I’m looking forward to playing at Bath.”I admire the way they play the game and believe that I can develop my own game within this environment.”. Andre Agassi, 26 days from his 31st birthday, scorns a catchphrase applicable to many sporting veterans – the older they get, the better they used to be – because in his case the reverse is true. Andre Agassi 26 days from his 31st birthday, scorns a catchphrase applicable to many sporting veterans ­ the older they get, the better they used to be ­ because in his case the reverse is true.
Part of the reason is rooted in the cavalier approach Agassi adopted to some of the major tournaments in his younger days ­ “I have taken off some years that I have spent a lot of nights regretting” ­ but the most significant factor is the work ethic which is the hallmark of his success in maturity.Agassi has won the season’s first three prestigious titles: a successful defence of the Australian Open championship and back-to-back triumphs in the Masters Series events in Indian Wells, California, and the Ericsson Open here.”The actual tennis racket part has never been a top priority to me,” Agassi says. “I am not going to forget how to hit a tennis ball, something I have been doing since I was literally in diapers. But I think you can get stronger and faster.”He has lost only two of 24 matches so far this year ­ to an inspired Greg Rusedski in the final in San Jose, and to Francisco Clavet in the opening round in Scottsdale, Arizona ­ and has left a trail of opponents gasping in admiration, such as Jan-Michael Gambill, a 23-year-old American compatriot, whom he defeated, 7-6, 6-1, 6-0, in Sunday’s Ericsson final.Gambill, whose advance to the final raised him to third place in the ATP Champions Race, which may restrict his sideline as a model, was outrun and out-thought by Agassi.

“He’s running me side to side like a rag doll and fielded some balls that I just can’t even fathom how,” Gambill said “Andre is the best thinker in the game. I don’t think anybody in the world could have beaten him today.”Agassi was not inclined to argue. “I am a better athlete now than I was [when I made a good start] in 1995,” he said “I am stronger and I am faster and I move better When I move better, I have more options. And I have a lot of experience to make good decisions with a variety of shots.”When you have those kind of options you can really think yourself into paralysis. But when things go well and everything is coming together, you can structure in a way that as long as the match goes, the more it starts favouring you.”Strengthened, he believes, by his struggles last season after injuring his back during a Davis Cup tie in Zimbabwe ­ “it was a tough year, physically, emotionally, mentally” ­ Agassi is taking care in arranging his clay-court schedule leading up to the French Open.”I don’t think I am going to need a lot to be ready for Paris,” he said “I think I can make a mistake by playing too much.