Johnson bulks-up England pack
Updated on 12 November 2008
Martin Johnson recalls Phil Vickery and Tom Palmer to the England pack to face Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.
Former captain Vickery will take over as tight-head prop from Matt Stevens who will start on the bench. Palmer replaces Nick Kennedy, whose debut against the Pacific Islands last weekend included a try scored in the second half. Kennedy has been left out of the 22, with Simon Shaw taking the slot on the bench.
The backs remain unchanged, with full-back Delon Armitage, winger Ugo Monye and inside centre Riki Flutey all set to win their second caps.
On his selection, Johnson said: "We've got two, what we think are good quality tight-head props. Phil's very fresh, he's in good form. We're picking a team to try and beat Australia on Saturday so we thought Phil starting with Matt potentially coming off the bench was a good combination to go with."
Johnson added that the decision to leave out Kennedy was not based upon last week's performance. "It's a selection that we were thinking about doing anyway," he said.
"It's a great opportunity for Nick last week and I thought he played pretty well. It's pretty tough on him not to be in the 22, but when you're picking the bench it's not always your next best player. They're very different players, Simon and Nick, so we've gone with what Simon offers off the bench rather than Nick.
"It was a pretty tough call, and he's disappointed and naturally so, but he took it very well, he's trained very well. He took his first step at international rugby last week and he'll take another one at some point in this season I'm sure."
Johnson believes that the game against Australia will be a tougher challenge for his side. "We had things to fix up from that game [against the Pacific Islands] and everything to progress," he said. "Every part of our game needs to progress up a level when we play Australia.
"We're playing a team that's just come out of the Tri-Nations, so they're playing South Africa three times and New Zealand four times, so they've been rubbing shoulders against the best teams in the world.
"They'll be battle-hardened; they've had a season together. They'll come to Twickenham; they'll want to win this game. They always want to win at Twickenham, so you always get the sense that it's a big game for them and it's a big game for us."
