Luger return could trigger England shake-up

Dan Luger. Remember him? He used to turn out on the wing for Harlequins and England, scoring hot-paced tries by the gross while giving spectators the impression that he had just spent a week sleeping on someone's floor. Famously laid back to the point of horizontality, he has had little choice but to lay down for the last eight months, thanks to the knee injury he suffered while playing sevens in April. And now, suddenly, he is back on his feet and feeling vaguely vertical.

Luger has been selected in his club's starting combination for this afternoon's Premiership match with Bath at the Recreation Ground, a fixture marking the end of what the player himself describes as "a long road back to fitness".

He knows more about these long roads than an HGV driver – not to put too fine a point on it, Hannibal Lecter's victims had better medical records – but on this occasion he has timed his return to perfection. A decent run of form over the next month will give him an even-money shot at a Six Nations place in February.

Suddenly, England have more wide options than they know what to do with. Iain Balshaw's try-scoring return to Bath colours, in which the full-back has rattled up four in three outings since the start of the month, ought to be enough to persuade Clive Woodward, the national manager, to shift Jason Robinson back to the left-wing position he filled with such distinction during the Lions tour of Australia.

There again, Ben Cohen is playing the best rugby of his life in that role, and, along with Doug Howlett of New Zealand, would walk into any World XV selected to play Pluto next weekend.

Throw in the names of James Simpson-Daniel, Phil Christophers and the uncapped Marcel Garvey, and you have the richest mix of natural finishers ever to challenge for Test recognition.

Indeed, the top end of English rugby is no place for a wing who cannot claim the very best of pedigrees. Take Matt Moore. An England tourist in 1998, Moore is Harlequins' leading Premiership scorer this term, with six tries. Yet he is out on his ear for this afternoon's trip to the West Country, as is Ben Gollings, a fleet-footed operator who can live with the best on the international seven-a-side circuit.

With Luger on one wing and Rob Jewell on the other, Quins feel they have a back division able to make Bath suffer. The real suffering, however, is experienced by good players who cannot get a run.

Mike Catt is a possible starter for Bath, which is another development of interest to Woodward as he chews the selectorial fat in preparation for the meeting with France at Twickenham.

Catt has been incapacitated by a dodgy hamstring for some weeks now, and is by no means certain to face Quins. But he is clearly close to fitness and, like Luger, could well work his way into the England equation with three or four quality performances.

Newcastle, bottom of the heap after five Premiership defeats on the bounce, have included Jonny Wilkinson, their star turn, in a large squad for tomorrow's visit to London Irish.

Even if the England outside-half, who has not played since taking a battering from the Springboks last month, fails to start, Rob Andrew's side will be desperate to get stuck in following their injury-time cup defeat at the hands of the same opposition six days ago.

Irish, for their part, have made one rotational change to their front row, where Simon Halford will start ahead of Rob Hardwick.

Bristol, struggling for funds and acutely embarrassed by their lamentable failure to beat Rotherham in the cup, will field a far more representative side against Sale at the Memorial Ground tomorrow.

Christophers, Daryl Gibson, Felipe Contepomi, Agustin Pichot, Paul Johnstone, Garath Archer, Alex Brown and Matt Salter are back on the teamsheet, and while their appearances are precisely seven days too late from the point of view of those Bristol supporters who paid good money to watch last weekend's pantomime, Premiership safety counts for far more than cup success when the cupboard is bare.