Three steps to hell in Johnson card purge

England players face being dropped in effort to stem number of yellow offences

(PA)

The England manager, Martin Johnson, has been studying this yellow card business in some considerable depth: more depth, certainly, than during his playing career in the Premiership, when he accumulated 11 of the things and cemented a position at the top end of the sin bin table, alongside such notable fellow pacifists as Danny Grewcock, Garath Archer and Kevin Yates. Yesterday, Johnson took the scientific step of placing penalty offences in three categories. The worst of these might be labelled "half-witted", and Johnson indicated that those responsible for such deeds would soon find themselves seeking alternative employment.

No fewer than 10 England personnel have spent time in the cooler in the space of four Tests. To put it another way, the national team have spent 100 of the last 320 competitive minutes playing a man short. Against Ireland in Dublin last Saturday night, the prop Phil Vickery and the substitute scrum-half Danny Care sauntered off to the bin at important moments. During Vickery's absence, the opposition scored their only try; Care's transgression presented Ronan O'Gara with three points that effectively took the Irish out of sight.

Johnson, close to spontaneous combustion at the time, was still annoyed yesterday. "Immediately post-game there was a lot of emotion about, but we were able to talk rationally about this problem during the evening," he said. "We'll be talking about it again, both this week and next, leading into the next Six Nations match against France. Wayne Barnes [the Test referee from the Forest of Dean] is joining us in camp and will try to eradicate the grey areas in players' interpretation of what they can and cannot do in certain complex areas of the game. However, there are also the 'silly' penalties that don't leave you with a leg to stand on."

According to Johnson, who is a connoisseur of rugby misdemeanour in all its manifestations, the least annoying offences are those forced on a team by the opposition. Then there is a middle register, in which players "try to do something with the right intention, but make a technical mistake". And then there is the bottom circle of penalty hell, inhabited by those who "get it completely wrong and do something stupid". At this point, Care's ears must have been burning.

His cheap-shot barge on the Ireland prop Marcus Horan at Croke Park was the very definition of "completely wrong" and the Harlequins half-back, packed off to his club for this weekend's league fixture with Saracens, will cop it when he returns to camp on Monday. "I've already had a little chat with Danny," said the manager, in a dark tone that conjured visions of Torquemada himself, "and I'll catch up again with him next week.

"When you introduce a scrum-half off the bench, you do it expecting him to make an impact. Danny had a rush of blood in what was a fairly fractious game, but he couldn't afford to get involved. If people make bad decisions, they won't play. We select on performance, and part of a performance is giving away penalties. If people aren't getting it, or haven't been getting it, they have to get it now."

France, meanwhile, have recalled the centres Florian Fritz and Damien Traille, the lock Jérôme Thion and the loose forward Julien Bonnaire to their squad for the visit to Twickenham on Sunday week. Clément Poitrenaud, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Louis Picamoles and the injured Benoît Baby drop out. The fearsome Sébastien Chabal, used in the second row thus far, will be considered as a back-row player.

In the bin: Offences that made Johnson cringe

James Haskell England v New Zealand

The flanker aimed a stiff-arm hit at the All Blacks' No 8 Rodney So'oialo, but his aim was so poor he connected with the full-back Mils Muliania instead.

James Haskell England v Italy

Haskell tripped Gonzalo Canale in open field. "I was trying to put myself in the way of a guy making a break," he explained. "Unfortunately, he happened to be really quick."

Shane Geraghty England v Italy

The replacement midfielder headed back to the bench less than five minutes after leaving it following an ill-timed and dangerous tackle on the airborne Luke McLean.

Danny Care Ireland v England

Summoned from the bench to make an impact, the Harlequins scrum-half impacted on the prop Marcus Horan by clattering him from behind at a ruck, yards off the ball.