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{ Good to be back: Lewis Moody feels ready to tackle France on Saturday after coming through this test against Northampton
Lewis Moody says he is ready to return as England captain against France on Saturday and end the "soul-destroying" experience of having to sit out the wins over over Wales and Italy.

Knocking over France, the only other unbeaten team in the Six Nations, is the toughest assignment in northern hemisphere rugby and with their coach Marc Lievremont stoking up the anti-English feeling, this is a job for fearless characters.

That is why Moody's return looks certain when Martin Johnson names his side for Twickenham on Thursday with the team manager knowing the flanker is equipped to take the fight to the French and their formidable back row in particular.

After five weeks out with a knee injury, Moody made his comeback on Saturday, playing for 23 minutes of Bath's 38-8 hammering of Northampton.

He said: "It was a little bit stiff after the game but I didn't feel the knee during it, which was good. Fingers crossed, we've got through everything.

"Full credit to the physios, who put up with my whingeing and shouting at them over the last five weeks. They worked like stink. I've said all along I wanted to be back for this French game. We said it was a realistic target, so we've all been proved right at the minute.

"We will see what happens, but it is just nice to be fit. It has been wonderful to see the boys do so well so far in the Six Nations.

"Mike Tindall has done a cracking job as captain and the guys who have come in have stuck their hands up, which bodes well in a World Cup year. But it has also been soul-destroying for me. I am a terrible spectator and I have found it difficult."

Leicester flanker Tom Croft also made a comeback as a replacement in Leicester's 21-12 win over London Wasps but will have to wait longer for his recall as Tom Wood deserves to retain the No6 jersey.

France, who kept up their Grand Slam bid with a 25-22 win over Ireland eight days ago, rested all of their players at the weekend and left it to Lievremont to set the tone for the week.

"Well we don't like them [the English], and it's better to say that than be hypocritical," he said smiling.

"We have a bit of trouble with the English. We respect them, well in my case at least I respect them but you couldn't say we have the slightest thing in common with them. We appreciate our Italian cousins with whom we share the same quality of life, we appreciate the Celts and their conviviality . . . and then among all these nations we have one huge thing in common: we don't like the English!

"We left Dublin last week with the encouragement of all the Irish who said 'for pity's sake, beat the English'. The Scots, it's the same thing. It is also what gives you strength against the English, more than just because of rugby.

"This insular country who always drape themselves in the national flag, their hymns, their chants, their traditions. They are people who one regards as a very proud people."

Those observations will add spice to the build-up and ensure little attention is focussed on the battle for the ascendancy in the Aviva Premiership.

Saracens defeated Leeds 39-0 yesterday and stand second just five points behind Leicester courtesy of tries from Michael Tagicakibau, Brad Barritt, James Short, Richard Wigglesworth and Chris Wyles.

Despite this attacking power, it was another area of Saracens' play that really pleased director of rugby, Mark McCall.

"It was important to us to do a very professional job in this game," he said. "Our defence was critical, as we discussed all week, and we were determined to take it to a new level. A lot of our points and our pressure actually came from our defence, which was as good as I have seen it."

Former England skipper Steve Borthwick made his return after a month out with a shoulder injury. McCall added: "His experience in the second row and leadership are very important to us."

London Irish went down 23-9 at Gloucester while Harlequins bounced back from defeat at Exeter to beat visitors Sale 21-9.

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Agences de presses

Labels: England, fired, Lewis, London, Moody, torment

{ I can?t look: John Terry fails to prevent Raul Meireles from scoring the winner at the Bridge yesterday
The arrival of a big-money striker is usually the catalyst for a revival of fortunes or the final weapon to help shoot for the stars but Fernando Torres presents Carlo Ancelotti with a conundrum that may cost him his job.

Of course, integrating a ?50million signing into a squad defending the Double is a problem most managers would relish tackling and Torres's proven pedigree enhances the likelihood of a successful career at Chelsea.

But the Spaniard will need time and that is the one commodity Ancelotti does not have, with the Blues harbouring only the faintest Premier League title hopes after this tame surrender to Kenny Dalglish's resurgent Liverpool.

Ancelotti is under exorbitant pressure to deliver the Champions League for an owner who believes he has bought the perfect tool to achieve that goal; ultimately, Torres is more important to Roman Abramovich than Ancelotti is and if the Italian cannot get his new No9 firing soon, his tenure is unlikely to last beyond the summer.

In reverting to the 4-4-2 diamond formation he favoured upon taking charge at Chelsea - but subsequently abandoned for the players' preferred 4-3-3 system - the Blues suffered from a disastrous lack of width which channelled their attacks into Liverpool's strongest areas.

Dalglish's deployment of three centre-backs perfectly nullified Nicolas Anelka, playing at the top of the diamond, while rendering Frank Lampard and Michael Essien ineffective as a lack of wide options forced the midfield pair to attempt to navigate paths through the most congested area of the pitch.

Full-backs Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa were under heavy pressure to provide width but were incapable of balancing such demands with their defensive duties - Torres' debut was disastrous but the blame cannot solely lie with the 26-year-old.

Spending ?50m has bought Chelsea a striker but not a supply line and Ancelotti's task is to best facilitate one of the finest finishers in the game with the ammunition to succeed.

One game is not enough to judge their long-term compatibility but Torres, Didier Drogba and Anelka in the same side appears a difficult blend to manage.

Torres and Drogba are used to both leading the line and, as such, are the focal point of the attack, while Anelka has previously adapted well to a position on the right of a front three, yet that compromise has come at the price of a diminished goal return.

Anelka does not appear suited to a position in 'the hole' behind the main strikers - nor does is make use of his considerable pace - while Lampard is at once relegated to a more defensive role; his goalscoring impact was reduced significantly when Ancelotti first adopted the diamond formation.

With Champions League success the priority, Chelsea have a degree of breathing space to attempt the alchemy given the limited threat FC Copenhagen pose in their last-16 clash but the evidence presented in their defeat by Liverpool suggests much work is needed.

Victory was achieved at Sunderland with the same system but the introduction of Torres combined with a resolute and well-organised opposition proved too much, whatever Ancelotti argues to the contrary.

"The problem wasn't that Torres played - he did a good job on the pitch," said the Chelsea manager. "We had difficulty finding enough space in front because Liverpool defended very well and they put three defenders in the middle and we didn't find the right way to attack them.

"We have to work in training to combine with the other strikers but that's normal. The problem was not putting these players together. These players have a lot of quality - I have to try to use them together and I'll try everything to put them together."

Perhaps the irony of this result is that Dalglish is now arguably more likely to be in his current job next season than Ancelotti; King Kenny punctuated his team's admirable display with no less than 11 separate waves to the visiting supporters, who barely knew where to direct their joy first.

Torres scored on his Liverpool debut against Chelsea but only twice threatened a reverse - Maxi Rodriquez gifted possession after just two minutes but he fired wastefully over before a superb block from Jamie Carragher denied Torres after his only meaningful link-up with Drogba all afternoon.

Maxi missed the best chance of the first half, hitting the crossbar from three yards out, before Petr Cech and Branislav Ivanovic argued furiously after a miscommunication in dealing with Martin Kelly's cross.

Whatever they said, the lesson went unheeded as Liverpool's winning goal owed a lot to another misunderstanding between the pair.

Cole had been caught upfield and Steven Gerrard exploited the space to deliver an innocuous-looking cross. Cech and Ivanovic left it to each other, enabling Raul Meireles to execute a smart volleyed finish.

Torres had departed three minutes earlier and could only watch on as Chelsea alarmingly failed to rally in his absence. Given the sense of occasion and the boost ?71m of new faces must have provided to the squad, there was a startling lack of riposte to adversity.

Glen Johnson was fortunate not to concede a stoppage-time penalty for barging Ivanovic but the repetitive spot-kick appeals smacked of a side that had run out of ideas. Almost unnoticed amid the frustration was David Luiz's promising 17-minute debut in which he made a couple of decent interceptions but overall Ancelotti was left perplexed by a performance that failed to capitalise on Manchester United's first League defeat of the season.

"We're disappointed for this reason because we had an opportunity to close the gap but now we're still the same distance," he said.

"We have to keep going. We have to try to fight again for the title."

That fight will continue at Fulham a week tonight, when Ancelotti insists he will use the same system again and better will be expected from their new star man. But time is of the essence for Ancelotti, not Torres.

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Agences de presses

Labels: Ancelotti, being, Fernando, fired, firing, himself, London, Torres