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JAMES HOOK will play full-back for Wales against England in the opening Six Nations game at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Friday night (ko 7.45pm). Morgan Stoddart is on the wing and Lee Byrne is on the bench.

WALES: James Hook; Morgan Stoddart, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Paul James, Matthew Rees (C), Craig Mitchell, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton, Andy Powell. Replacements (to be confirmed): Richard Hibbard, John Yapp, Ryan Jones, Jonathan Thomas, Dwayne Peel, Rhys Priestland, Lee Byrne.

ENGLAND: B Foden (Northampton Saints); C Ashton (Northampton Saints), M Tindall (Gloucester, capt), S Hape (Bath), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); T Flood (Leicester Tigers), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), D Hartley (Northampton Saints), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), L Deacon (Leicester Tigers), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Wood (Northampton Saints), J Haskell (Stade Francais), N Easter (Harlequins). Replacements: S Thompson (Leeds Carnegie), D Wilson (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps), J Worsley (Wasps), D Care (Harlequins), J Wilkinson (Toulon), M Banahan (Bath).

Wales assistant coach Rob Howley has predicted the game will be “a battle of inches not yards.”

Howley is in charge of a back line which sees Scarlets wing Morgan Stoddart return to international duty for the first time since the Autumn of 2008 and finds a place for Osprey Hook at full back with his regional colleague Lee Byrne on the bench.

Elsewhere the centre partnership of Jamie Roberts (Blues) and Jonathan Davies (Scarlets) which proved successful on the recent summer tour of New Zealand is restored with halfbacks Mike Phillips (Ospreys) and Stephen Jones (Scarlets) also retained.

Former IRB World Player of the Year Shane Williams (Ospreys) has returned from injury to take up his place on the wing and complete the back three alongside Stoddart and Hook.

Up front 25-year-old Ospreys tight-head Craig Mitchell wins his first start and his fifth cap alongside captain Matthew Rees (Scarlets) at hooker and regional colleague Paul James on the other side of the scrum.

The regular pairing of Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys) and Bradley Davies (Blues) make up the second row with Blues youngster Sam Warburton joining Dragons blindside Dan Lydiate on the flanks together with Wasps No8 Andy Powell.

“In the front row we have two guys who have done well at regional level and know each others games either side of our leader and the Lions hooker in Matthew Rees, so we are comfortable with the selection,” said Howley.

“The second row has been consistent in recent times and we have two good youngsters who have both been playing exceptionally well coming into the back row.

“Dan (Lydiate) was magnificent for us in the autumn and Sam (Warburton) has been going great for the Blues in Europe recently and there is a nice balance there with the ball carrying abilities of Andy Powell completing the trio.

“This is going to be a battle of inches and not yards and we know the pack can dominate like they did in our Autumn games we are in with a good chance.

“We did debate selection at fly half and elsewhere in the backs but we feel we have settled on the right pairing there with the experience they offer.

“Lee Byrne misses out solely through virtue of the fact he has had limited game time after injury and he will offer us some impact from the bench, which is fairly experienced in itself and will undoubtedly be utilised during the evening.

“We are playing England at the home of Welsh rugby at the start of the Rugby World Cup year so we are looking to get ourselves of to a great start and create some momentum and I can’t think of a better place for a Welshman to do that.”

On the bench Rhys Priestland is the only uncapped player – he will be Wales’ 1,079th player if he gets on – where he is joined by a wealth of experience in Sale scrum-half Dwayne Peel, lock/back row Ryan Jones and Jonathan Thomas (both Ospreys), Blues prop John Yapp, Ospreys hooker Richard Hibbard and the 38-times capped Byrne.

Meanwhile, Northampton flanker Tom Wood will make his England debut on Friday.

Wood was not included in Martin Johnson’s original 33-man squad but he has been promoted from the Saxons straight into the starting XV after injuries forced England to reshuffle their pack.

Lewis Moody and Tom Croft are both missing from the back row while Northampton lock Courtney Lawes is in danger of being sidelined for the whole championship with a knee injury.

With Moody out, Mike Tindall has been appointed England captain for the first time.

Wood, 24, will pack down at blindside flanker and offer England a back-row lineout option in Croft’s absence, while James Haskell will start in the less familiar role on the openside.

Leicester lock Louis Deacon returns in the second row to partner Tom Palmer in place of Lawes.

Wood is in his first year with Heineken Cup quarter-finalists Northampton after three seasons at Worcester.

He was born in Coventry and played for the Barkers’ Butts club, which lists Danny Grewcock and Neil Back among its international alumni.

Wood graduated through the Worcester academy and overcame a broken leg with a successful spell in New Zealand before forcing his way into the Warriors first team in the 2007-08 season.

The athletic 6ft 5in, 16st 7lb flanker broke into the Saxons squad this time last year and, after making an immediate impression at Franklin’s Gardens, he is now in line for his Test debut in Cardiff.

Wood will don the six jersey. Haskell is traditionally a blindside but his breakdown and turnover work has been one of the big improvements in his game since moving to Stade Francais.

Labels: fullback, James, start, Wales, WalesOnline

In the absence of Wales international Jonathan Davies, the strong-running Williams has been in impressive form in recent weeks.

He made a couple of a powerful bursts in the battling LV= Cup defeat to the Dragons and also stood out in the 17-13 loss to Connacht in Galway last weekend.

Williams has an impressive pedigree.

He scored a stunning individual try for Wales Under-20s against France at the Arms Park last season and claimed the man-of-the-match award in Llanelli's Swalec Cup final triumph at the Millennium Stadium.

With the likes of Davies, Regan King and Gareth Maule all in fine form this season, chances in the Scarlets midfield have been limited.

However, Davies is hoping Williams can now show the future is bright for Scarlets fans still mourning the announcement that All Black playmaker King is on his way to Clermont Auvergne in the summer.

"Scott has really impressed over the last couple of weeks," said Davies. "He has really put his hand up which is great to see.

"Scott is our next level of development player coming through, if you like, and he is going to start putting pressure on people like Jon and Regan, which is what we want."

Williams slots into a back division showing just two changes from last weekend's reverse in Connacht.

New Wales cap Rhys Priestland replaces Dan Newton who drops to the bench, while Scotland's Sean Lamont is named on the wing with Darren Daniel returning to Premiership duty with Carmarthen Quins.

Josh Turnbull for Johnathan Edwards at openside is the lone change up front, with veteran prop Iestyn Thomas retaining the captain's armband.

As for Ulster, they welcome back Ireland's Paddy Wallace, Tom Court and Andrew Trimble from Six Nations duty.

Fly-half Ian Humphreys has passed a fitness test on the shoulder he injured against the Ospreys last weekend and he partners Springbok Ruan Pienaar at half-back.

Ulster will be looking to end a woeful record that sees them without a Celtic league victory in Llanelli. "It's a game we've got to win because we don't want to get too far down the table at this stage of the season," said Wallace.

Labels: chance, Evening, given, shine, South, Wales, Williams

BEN YOUNGS has been named as the man Wales must stop if they are to beat England in Friday’s Six Nations opener.

The 21-year-old scrum-half starts his first championship match in a side which shows three changes from the last outing against South Africa.

Northampton flanker Tom Wood is given his debut in place of injured captain Lewis Moody, with fellow crocks Tom Croft and Courtney Lawes replaced by James Haskell and Louis Deacon respectively.

Mike Tindall, the 66-cap World Cup winner, is captain for the first time, as Mirror Sport revealed on Saturday.

But Leicester star Youngs is the chief threat, according to Dragons legend Jonathan Davies. “In this England squad Youngs is the key,” said Davies, now a BBC pundit.

“If England get on the front foot he controls the tempo of the game, he’s very clever.

“He runs into gaps, sucks defenders in, puts team-mates through holes, who then suck defenders in, then England go wide with pace.

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“England traditionally look to their fly-half to call the shots but, to my mind, Youngs has taken over as the player controlling their game.”

The Norfolk-born youngster is braced for a fierce battle with Wales No.9 Mike Phillips – and a fiery reception from the home crowd inside the Millennium Stadium.

The Welsh public have not forgotten the sight of Youngs hushing the Llanelli crowd and indicating to them to calm down after he scored a try against Scarlets in the Heineken Cup. “I did it in the heat of the moment, but I’ve learned from it,” he admitted last night. “I got told off by my mother. She told me never to do it again and I won’t.”

Youngs suspects he will have his hands full just dealing with Phillips, one of the stars of the 2009 Lions series in South Africa.

“He’s very experienced and there may be a bit of banter around the scrum, a bit of sledging,” he said. “He might try to push me around a little. I’m expecting a big physical challenge.

“But as long as you know what’s coming your way you can get yourself in the right place (mentally) not to be put off by it. I think that’s why Martin Johnson told us what we can expect at the Millennium Stadium, so no one runs on to the pitch thinking, ‘Blimey, why’s that guy doing that’ ?”

Labels: Davies, England, legend, Mirrorcouk, Wales, Youngs

Andy Robinson's final words to his players before the kick-off were to go out and really play, but the Scotland coach saw them press rewind instead and could only watch in table-thumping frustration as his team showed a chronic inability to take the game to opponents who had gone more than 10 months without a victory.

Robinson wanted Scotland to show that they were able to manage expectation but they did not even manage to score a try despite enjoying the majority of possession and making almost twice as many passes as Wales. Even when they had a two-man advantage for seven minutes in the first-half when Bradley Davies and Lee Byrne were in the sin-bin, the home side lacked the poise and wit to fashion an opening. The year before, Wales had won the game with two tries when Scotland had players in the sin-bin.

The Scotland captain, Alastair Kellock, afterwards lamented that it took disappointment for Scotland to put in a performance, the refuge of the underdog. Three tries in Paris on the opening weekend, together with victory over South Africa in November and a 2-0 series win in Argentina the previous summer had given Robinson hope that the days of one-off performances were over, but Saturday showed that progress is still followed by a backward step.

Scotland offered little behind beyond the thrusts of Sean Lamont and the Scarlet only found himself on the field after Hugo Southwell injured himself after taking out Byrne in the air at the end of the opening quarter. Dan Parks, so influential last season, was one-dimensional, the midfield dithered and fumbled and, without the ill Richie Gray, the forwards lacked thrust, bullied at the breakdown.

"We were poor and that is being polite," said Lamont. "I would use stronger words than that. We need to sit down and have some serious alone time, pointing fingers. It is time to shut doors, perhaps not even have the coaches there. We have to question how much we want this and I think a few boys need to be worried and start looking over their shoulders. It was criminal that we did not convert when they were down to 13 men and we should not have lost like we did. We were not good enough."

Lamont's angst was compounded by the fact that they lost to a Wales team that is far from vintage. The return of James Hook to fly-half made an immediate difference: he was six times involved in the move that led to the opening try on seven minutes, carrying the ball in both hands, vexing defenders and waiting for an opportunity that came when he detected the Scotland prop Allan Jacobsen in front of him.

Hook stepped into space and away from the front-rower to give Shane Williams, the tormentor of the Scots, his 52nd try for Wales. Hook was blessed with what Scotland lacked, cunning and patience, but the men in red still lacked conviction in attack. Their victory was based on defence and they were content, after Williams's early try was supplemented by three Hook penalties, to let Scotland take the game to them, knowing there would be mistakes to feed off.

Wales had gone 20 internationals since they had last kept their tryline intact but here their determination in defence, where the forwards Craig Mitchell, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate and Sam Warburton all made a double-figure number of tackles, was outstanding. They were the team reacting to disappointment, not just the defeat to England the previous week, but a gradual decline since winning the grand slam in 2008.

The players had treated their coach, Warren Gatland, to frequent playings of David Bowie and Queen's Under Pressure in the team coach last week, a reference to the media scrutiny the New Zealander had come under. Disappointing results have not sapped morale but, like Scotland, their ambition is dimmed by a discomfort of expectation.

Wales's next stop is Rome and they will start as favourites against an Italian team reeling from its Twickenham torment. The Azzurri have more cause to fear themselves than Wales who have come to rely on graft rather than craft, even with Hook.

The second half was miasmic, basic mistakes wrecking fluency. The more Scotland attacked, the less likely they looked like scoring. Wales waited for their moment and secured victory when Nikki Walker's sloppy pass to Jacobsen was claimed byWarburton for Jonathan Davies to kick into the space Walker had vacated for Williams to claim his second try.

"We have gone back a couple of steps," said Robinson, who is still waiting for his first Six Nations victory in the Scottish capital.

Gatland said Wales would improve. He will not be playing Bowie's Heroes to his players just yet, nor Hunky Dory, but his relief was palpable.

Scotland: Southwell (Stade Français; S Lamont, Scarlets, 20); Walker (Ospreys), Ansbro (Northampton), De Luca (Edinburgh), Evans (Glasgow); Parks (Cardiff Blues), R Lawson (Gloucester; Blair, Edinburgh, 47); Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Ford (Edinburgh; S Lawson, Gloucester, 70), Murray (Newcastle; Low, Edinburgh, 47), Hines (Leinster), Kellock (Glasgow, capt; MacLeod, Scarlets, 75), Brown (Saracens), Barclay (Glasgow; Rennie, Edinburgh, 70), Vernon (Glasgow).

Pens Parks 2.

Wales: Byrne (Ospreys; Priestland, Scarlets, 80); Stoddart (Scarlets), Roberts (Blues), J Davies (Scarlets), Williams (Ospreys); Hook (Ospreys; S Jones, Scarlets, 70), Phillips (Ospreys; Knoyle, Scarlets, 80); James (Ospreys; Yapp, Blues, 70), Rees (Scarlets, capt; Hibbard, Ospreys, 80), Mitchell (Ospreys), B Davies (Blues), AW Jones (Ospreys; Turnbull, Scarlets, 75), Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons; Thomas, Ospreys, 55), Warburton (Blues), R Jones (Ospreys).

Tries Williams 2 Con Hook Pens Hook 4.

Sin-bin B Davies 24, Byrne 28.

Referee: G Clancy (Ireland) Attendance 60,259.

Labels: backwards, defeat, Guardian, Nations, Scotland, Wales

Alun-Wyn Jones has revealed how Wales relished being put under a piercing spotlight that accompanied them all the way to Edinburgh for their make-or-break clash against Scotland.

Wales' 24-6 victory - only their fourth at Murrayfield since 1985 - has kept them in the RBS 6 Nations title shake-up. Defeat in the Scottish capital, though, would have seen a trip to Italy on February 26 gripped by a fear of potential wooden spoon status for the losers.

Jones said: "Usually, you are told to avoid pressure and not think about it. There was a bit of a mentality this week, though, of knowing we were under pressure and then embracing it."

He added: "We seem to play better rugby the more under pressure we are, especially later on in games, so we said let's embrace it from the start, and we did.

"Flippin' heck, we play great rugby under pressure - we have done against the likes of South Africa and New Zealand.

"If you look at some of our performances, we have been guilty of not getting into games as early as we should do. We were very conscious we were under pressure, but we embraced that pressure from the off.

"Yes, international rugby is a results-based game, but it was only a matter of time (before Wales won).

"It is nice to see some smiles on faces. It was one of our best defensive performances - we shut them out - and we had that composure under pressure."

Labels: Association, embraced, Jones, Press, pressure, Wales

2011 SIX NATIONS: SCOTLAND v WALES
Venue: Murrayfield Stadium Date: Saturday, 12 February Kick-off: 1700 GMT
Coverage: Watch live on BBC One from 1635, and on the Red Button and online; listen on BBC Radio 5 live; live text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles. Also broadcast on BBC America.

Wales travel to Scotland on Saturday bidding to end an eight-match winless run following their opening Six Nations defeat to England in Cardiff on Friday.

Lewis said: "This is a time for cool heads and certainly not to chop heads.

"At the top of the WRU we believe we have the right people in place with the right skills and experiences."

Gatland, a Heineken Cup winner with London Wasps in 2004, inspired Wales to the 2008 Grand Slam in his first campaign as national team coach but current Welsh form is poor.

Wales have not tasted victory since their final Six Nations game of last season when Gatland's men beat Italy 33-10.

The 2011 Six Nations campaign starts the preparations for this autumn's Rugby World Cup and Wales do have an unfortunate habit of parting company with coaches in the build-up to international rugby's showpiece tournament.

And Gatland has come under increasing pressure since Wales' disappointing performance in their Six Nations curtain-raising 16-19 defeat by England at the Millennium Stadium on Friday.

The WRU backed Gatland by handing him a four-year contract extension in October and Lewis is adamant the New Zealander should be given more time to stop one of the worst sequences of results in the country's history.

"Our coaching team know what is required to win Grand Slams and European Cups as well as how to face defeat," Lewis told the Daily Telegraph.

"To gain respect we first need self-respect and to do that we all need to take responsibility.

"No-one is making excuses, it is up to all of us in the WRU to front up to this together and move forward."

Gatland has admitted he expects the sack should he not guide Wales to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.

Wales share a tricky Pool D with Samoa, Namibia, 2007 World Cup nemesis Fiji and world champions South Africa when Gatland takes his team to his native New Zealand for September's showpiece.

Gatland has only won twice in his last 14 Wales internationals but signed a contract extension which would make the 47-year-old Welsh rugby's longest-serving national coach should he remain until 2015.

But WRU chief Lewis conceded Gatland has a release clause in his new and improved contract that he could leave his post as Wales coach should either party want a change with the next four years.

Labels: Backed, coach, Gatland, Nations, Wales, Warren

2011 SIX NATIONS: SCOTLAND v WALES
Venue: Murrayfield Stadium Date: Saturday, 12 February Kick-off: 1700 GMT
Coverage: Watch live on BBC One from 1635, and on the Red Button and online; listen on BBC Radio 5 live; live text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles. Also broadcast on BBC America.

Leigh Halfpenny and George North are out while Morgan Stoddart is a doubt with a fractured bone in a hand.

Gatland said British and Irish Lions centre Roberts had a "quiet game" in a Six Nations opening defeat to England.

And asked if Wales could move Roberts, Wales skills coach Neil Jenkins admits: "That certainly is an option."

The former Wales fly-half and is not among coach Gatland's selectors but admitted the 2009 Lions man-of-the-series could move from his usual centre berth onto the flanks if Stoddart fails a fitness test.

The Scarlets wing has been given extra time to prove he is available despite fracturing a bone in a hand before scoring Wales' only try in their 26-19 Millennium Stadium defeat to England on Friday.

"Morgan has been given a window of opportunity," said Wales physiotherapist Mark Davies.

"If his symptoms settle down we will clear him to play subject to a fitness review later in the week."

But should Stoddart join regional colleague North (shoulder) and Blues star Halfpenny (ankle) on the injured list then Roberts may be utilised on the opposite flank to Wales' record try-scorer Shane Williams at Murrayfield on Saturday.

If Roberts switches roles, the versatile James Hook may revert from the full-back role he occupied against England to his more familiar role in the centre and play alongside Jonathan Davies.

And then Lions full-back Lee Byrne, dropped to the bench against England, could start at number 15.

Roberts, coincidentally, made his Wales debut on the wing against Scotland in 2008 in the Welsh Grand Slam year during Gatland's first Championship campaign.

He also appeared at full-back before Gatland and defence coach Shaun Edwards took the view that the Cardiff Blues player Roberts was ideally suited to midfield.

But he has had a limited impact there since the Lions tour and Jenkins believes Roberts could fill the role in the manner Scarlets teenager George North achieved during his November introduction to Test rugby.

Cardiff Blues wing Chris Czekaj has been called into the squad as cover for Stoddart but Roberts may still get the nod.

Jenkins said: "Jamie had his first cap on the wing against Scotland in 2008… George is a fantastic player and he caused all sorts of problems when he played in the autumn playing off Stephen.

"And [he was effective off] a short ball behind the centres as well... and Jamie would be very effective at that.

"But the team will be picked in due course and you'll get to find out then. But that certainly is an option and James moving up and Byrney there as well who's a fantastic full-back."

Jenkins says Roberts could have been more pro-active in his approach against England, saying: "Jamie had one of his quieter games.

"We know how good a player he is, how good a ball-carrier he is. I think we'd like to see him carrying the ball as much as possible.

"One, he had a quieter game; two we didn't get the ball to him and three probably Jamie could have looked for the ball a little bit more.

"So I think it's all a culmination of a lot of things and it's something we can hopefully get right this week."

However, Jenkins defended Wales' tactical approach against a growing chorus of criticism among Welsh fans and pundits who believe Gatland's side are predictable and lacking in attacking variety.

He said: "In terms of the way we are playing, I feel we're happy with the way we're playing, the way that we progress and go about the game and obviously look at the opposition as well.

"We feel that the weaknesses in their game, the way we played is the way we wanted to play.

"I think we're reasonably happy with that and we've just got to get better at it and make the right decisions."

But the ex-Wales and Lions star says Wales must accept some of the criticism that came their way.

He said: "No-one's alien to criticism - we all get it and if we haven't won, we deserve it. It's as simple as that.

"If we haven't played to the standards that we expect, most definitely, we've got to take that on the chin.

"We've got to work our socks off to get it right, get ourselves back on track and get ourselves a win."

Wales squad:

Forwards: Paul James (Ospreys), John Yapp (Blues), Craig Mitchell (Ospreys), Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Scott Andrews (Blues), Matthew Rees (Scarlets, capt), Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Blues), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Andy Powell (Wasps), Josh Turnbull (Scarlets), Rob McCusker (Scarlets), Dan Lydiate (Dragons).

Backs: Mike Phillips (Ospreys), Dwayne Peel (Sale), Tavis Knoyle (Scarlets), Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), James Hook (Ospreys), Jamie Roberts (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Shane Williams (Ospreys), Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets), Lee Byrne (Ospreys), Chris Czekaj (Blues)

Labels: Jamie, Nations, option, Roberts, switch, Wales

By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 12:06 PM on 7th February 2011

Mike Tindall believes Friday night's victory over Wales could go down as one of the seminal moments in England's development towards the World Cup and beyond.

England had not won at the Millennium Stadium since 2003 and ended that barren run with a 26-19 triumph, secured with two tries from Chris Ashton and Toby Flood's faultless kicking display.

The tournament is now set up perfectly for England to challenge for the RBS 6 Nations title, with successive home fixtures against Italy, France and Scotland before a trip to Ireland on the last weekend.

But Tindall warned England all their efforts in Cardiff will go to waste if they allow their standards to slip against the Azzurri on Saturday.

'That was a great win. You hope it will be an important win in the team's development - but we mustn't get ahead of ourselves,' said Tindall, who captained England for the first time on Friday.

Dan Lydiate believes 'fingers will be pointed' this week as Wales seek a rapid response to their RBS 6 Nations defeat against England.  Wales flanker Lydiate said: 'We need to get back to winning ways. Once we do that, we will get some momentum and it will give us a boost. There were times we were sloppy against England, and we need to cut out those mistakes. If we do that, we will really be firing. We were a bit rusty, and you cannot be that way at this level. Nobody is hurting more than the players, and we are all disappointed for the fans. We will take a good long hard look at what happened. Fingers will be pointed this week, and we will sort it out for next weekend.' 

'We have to use the win as a stepping stone. Yes, there will be more expectation as we are at home but that comes from ourselves as well.

'Italy won't come to Twickenham and lie down to let us win. We have to demand performances from ourselves.

'We don't want to win ugly and scrape through. We want to win with the brand of rugby we have put out there over the last 6-8 months. If we do that we believe we will beat teams.'

In last year's championship England did scrape an ugly victory over the Italians in Rome - and it proved to be a watershed game.

England's attitude soon changed and their fortunes have been on the rise ever since, helped by the injection of youthful new blood into the team.

The likes of Flood, Ben Youngs, Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Courtney Lawes and Tom Palmer have all become key members of the England side.

That new attitude means England's players will gather back at their training base today expecting a 'few rollockings' from manager Martin Johnson, despite their victory.

'You don't get better by patting yourselves on the back too much,' said Johnson.
For those players who were involved in last year's Six Nations, that is a welcome development.

'In the last Six Nations we painted over a few cracks rather than addressed the problems,' said number eight Nick Easter.

'We beat Wales convincingly at home, won in Italy and thought we were there. We didn't win a game after that.

'We realised we weren't really on the right track in certain aspects - and one of those was the honesty calls.

'It's a big shift of approach but that's what you must do. You have to be brutally honest.

'If you want to be the best in the world - and nobody's hiding from the fact that we do - we're going to have to iron out our problems.'

Labels: buildup, Daily, Englandaposs, hails, Tindall, vital, Wales, World

By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 6:18 PM on 6th February 2011

Robbie Keane looks to be out of the Republic of Ireland's Carling Nations Cup opener against Wales after picking up a calf injury in West Ham's 1-0 defeat to Birmingham.

Keane, who scored on his Hammers debut at Blackpool on Wednesday, had to come off with 15 minutes of Sunday's match at Upton Park remaining after feeling his calf tighten.

West Ham boss Avram Grant said that he believes the 30-year-old is out of Tuesday's game in Dublin and could miss next weekend's crucial match at West Brom.

Grant said: 'Robbie Keane is injured. His calf has tightened. We will have to wait and see. I hope he will be fit for next weekend but he will not be fit for the international.'

Celtic's Anthony Stokes was placed on standby for a call-up when Giovanni Trapattoni named his squad last week and could replace Keane if he is pulled out.

Bristol City striker Andy Keogh had to be drafted into the Republic squad on Saturday after Newcastle striker Leon Best was injured in his side`s remarkable 4-4 draw with Arsenal.

Labels: after, clash, Daily, injury, Irelandaposs, Keane, picking, Wales