Greenwood doubt delays Woodward's selection

Clive Woodward delayed naming his England side for this weekend's Twickenham Test against Australia because of an orthopaedic complication or two: Will Greenwood was his most pressing concern, having suffered a "dead" leg during Saturday's narrow victory over New Zealand. (The Harlequins centre was fortunate not to collect a "dead" upper-torso into the bargain, having been body-checked to hell and back by Carlos Spencer).

Eddie Jones, on the other hand, might as well have declared his hand yesterday, for he is very nearly down to his last 15 fit Wallabies. If the Australian coach had a rough time of it in Dublin, where his side could not have performed less like world champions had they tried, things got progressively worse the moment he pitched up in London.

The medical bulletin made grim reading: Steve Larkham, his influential outside-half, strained a hamstring against the Irish; Jeremy Paul, his first-choice hooker, has a similar injury; Mat Rogers, the hot-shot recruit from rugby league, is still nursing dented ribs; and tough loose forward David Lyons has a damaged hip.

Given that Ben Tune, the Queensland wing, and Owen Finegan, the ACT Brumbies flanker, have already flown home with serious hamstring and shoulder injuries respectively, Jones's options are just a touch on the thin side. To cap it all, his captain, George Gregan, is also back in Australia, awaiting the birth of his second child.

The Wallabies expect their scrum-half to rejoin the squad tomorrow – he left immediately after the fiasco at Lansdowne Road – but then, Billy Bunter spent his life expecting a postal order to be delivered to Greyfriars School. If Gregan does reappear, he cannot hope to be in peak condition for this weekend's match.

Jones was having none of it yesterday. "We fully support George's decision to fly home – he has the 100 per cent endorsement of the team and management," he said. "We're not thinking about him not coming back. He's a great leader, a world-class half-back and his preparation is totally professional. It would be difficult to envisage him doing this if his preparation was not of that standard, but it is."

Woodward indicated that this weekend's red rose line-up would bear a marked resemblance to the one that took the field on Saturday, but he is at least toying with a change or two. He must be tempted to give Andy Gomarsall, the Gloucester scrum-half, a run at the expense of Matthew Dawson: Gomarsall performed strongly for his club at London Irish on Sunday, whereas Dawson had not been at his best 24 hours previously.

The midfield selection is also in flux, and not merely because of Greenwood's fitness problems. England looked seriously short of creativity compared with the New Zealand unit.

"It was a far from convincing performance," Woodward acknowledged. "I was pretty disappointed after the game, and it was difficult not to portray that to the team and the media. But there were some huge bonuses for us – Lewis Moody and Trevor Woodman came through very strongly in the forwards – and while we clearly have work to do, it is a very warm feeling to go into meetings with players this week knowing both that we have beaten the All Blacks and that we can play much better."

The New Zealand stand-off Carlos Spencer will miss Saturday's Test against France in Paris because of a shoulder injury. Spencer was replaced by Andrew Mehrtens at half-time at Twickenham on Saturday.