England have suffered a blow mere days before the start of the World Cup with the news Lewis Moody is out of the opening match against Argentina.
The England captain initially injured his knee in January but had made a full recovery before aggravating the problem in the warm-up game against Wales on 6th August. It had been hoped he would be fit to lead England, who are 1/6 with bookmaker to beat the Pumas, in their first game on Saturday but he is not quite ready to return to action.
“Lewis won’t play at the weekend. He is not quite ready to go today. We hoped he would be fit to start training but he is not quite there,” said manager Martin Johnson.
“The medics and the fitness guys take him through a progression of training and we hoped it would all be ready to go today but he is just a little bit short.”
Johnson remains hopeful Moody will be fit to play a part in the majority of the group games. Mike Tindall is expected to get the nod to captain the side while James Haskell is likely to take his place in the team.
