England's recent troubles arguably began when Lewis Moody limped out of the last Six Nations. Chris Hewett hears why he is desperate to play for his country again in the Independent.
"Happily for Leicester – not to mention England, for whom he is expected to resume international duty when the Six Nations starts anew in three weeks' time – he is every bit as good as he was. Nine matches into his comeback, he is considered so important to his club's cause that the acting head coach Richard Cockerill rested him from last weekend's Premiership derby at Northampton, where the Tigers promptly lost both the contest for the loose ball and the match, and has withheld him again from this afternoon's Heineken Cup pool tie with Treviso. Next Saturday is do-or-die day against Ospreys, the best side in Wales. Moody will be in the starting line-up for that one, definitely.
"Both Leicester and England need everything he has to offer – his energy and aggression, his line-out athleticism, his bravery over the ball, his unerring instinct for the charge-down. Neither team is in the best of shape, although the Tigers occasionally deliver a performance of sorts. (The last 15 minutes of their recent Premiership match with Bath were decent enough, as Moody well remembers, having delivered the scoring pass for Tom Croft's winning try in stoppage time.)"
RSS feed
