Monday, 3 October 2011

Armitage Ban Adds to Johnson Woes



England winger Delon Armitage will miss Saturday's quarter-final with France after receiving a one-match ban for a dangerous high tackle.

The London Irish back was cited for a tackle made on Chris Paterson during England's 16-12 World Cup victory over Scotland on Saturday.

The tribunal halved the 27-year-old's potential ban because he admitted he had been guilty of foul play.

England have 48 hours to appeal against the decision.

Armitage has had disciplinary problems in the past as he missed this year's Six Nations because of an eight-week ban for pushing an official.

He will be available for the semi-finals should Martin Johnson's men beat France in Auckland.

The winger's absence means Mark Cueto, who Armitage had replaced on the left wing for the Scotland tie, could make a return to the starting line-up.

England will be disappointed to lose Armitage, but it could have been worse. He admitted he was guilty of a dangerous tackle which normally carries a minimum ban of two weeks. He received the reduced one-match suspension after other factors were taken into consideration, presumably the main mitigating fact was his guilty plea as his disciplinary record in the recent past has not been very good.

England manager Martin Johnson has also said the versatile Matt Banahan is an option on the wing, although he might be considered as a replacement for Mike Tindall should the centre fail to recover from a dead leg.

"It's a shame to lose Delon as he has played well but these things happen and we have some quality wings in Mark Cueto and Matt Banahan to chose from," said Johnson.

Johnson confirmed England would wait another day to assess Jonny Wilkinson's fitness after the outside-half injured his arm against Scotland.

"Both (Tindall and Wilkinson) are responding to treatment so we will just have to see where they are up to when we get back into weights and light training," added Johnson.

Cueto had played 29 consecutive Tests for England before a back injury ruled him out of England's opening two World Cup victories over Argentina and Georgia.

The Sale winger then scored a hat-trick against Romania and admitted he "spat the dummy" after Johnson opted to start with Armitage on the left wing against Scotland.

"To play the way I did and score the hat-trick, it was disappointing to find out I wasn't playing last week," said Cueto.

"I was 100% fit. The coaches weren't convinced I was 100%. They know me pretty well and they thought I was just lacking a little edge in that game."