Woodward forced to rely on inexperience

Fourteen uncapped players – very nearly a teamful, as Tony Hancock might have said had he spent his leisure time watching rugby rather than giving blood – will represent England in Argentina next month, although only Mark Cueto of Sale and James Simpson-Daniel of Gloucester are obvious candidates for a starting place against the Pumas on 22 June. The rest must pray for a chance and grab it if it comes, but they at least have the opportunity to impress Clive Woodward in the absence of those rivals who chose to play injured during the latter stages of the Premiership campaign.

Woodward is less than chuffed that a significant number of contenders effectively turned their backs on the tour by staggering through to the end of the club season and then booking operations for early June. Two highly-rated locks, Steve Borthwick of Bath and Alex Brown of Bristol, are among these non-travellers, as are the Bristol prop Julian White and the Leeds wing Dan Scarbrough. There is also a degree of discontent over the absences of two former national captains, Lawrence Dallaglio of Wasps and Matthew Dawson of Northampton.

In an effort to establish a common-sense approach to the twin problems of fixture conflict and player burn-out, Woodward was joining senior internationals, club representatives and influential Rugby Football Union figures at a meeting today. "We needed a 12-month period for the existing agreement between the union and the clubs to shake itself down, but the World Cup is only 16 months away and I now need things to be set in concrete," said the manager. "I am not willing to see this issue left woolly and open to interpretation; it has to be put to bed in such a way that everyone in the game knows exactly how the élite programme, with its 32-match limit, is being operated. At least we're having a level-headed conversation about it, which is good news."

While Woodward is worried about player welfare and the destructive effect of over-egging the fixture list, he is also concerned that Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will note the relative weakness of this England party and pull a similar stunt in November, when they are due to visit Twickenham. "We cannot expect the major southern hemisphere unions to turn up here with all their big names at the end of their season if we fail to reciprocate," he said. "But this is not an issue for England alone. There are things here that must be decided by the game as a whole."

England will field a highly competitive pack against the Pumas, even though Woodward caused mild surprise by omitting the brilliant young Gloucester loose forward, James Forrester.

"If I'd thought Forrester might have made the Test side, I'd have picked him," said the manager. "As it is, I'm looking forward to seeing Lewis Moody at open-side, operating alongside Alex Sanderson, who I really rate. I have no problems with Forrester – he'll play for England one day, for sure – but Argentina is a tough environment for forwards, and this Test is a little early for him."

If there is a serious weakness in the party, it is in midfield. Woodward's late decision to rest Will Greenwood, his one world-class inside centre, leaves him with a clutch of potential No 13s and one specialist No 12, Kevin Sorrell of Saracens. Sorrell has sweated buckets for Sarries in recent seasons and deserves his trip, but he may find himself overhauled by the quicker and more dangerous Wasp, Josh Lewsey.