Rees Out For Two Months.

[Hall]

Wasps and England openside flanker Tom Rees will be out for a minimum of two months after scans revealed a torn medial knee ligament sustained during Wasps 24-18 victory of Harlequins.
He will definately miss the three opening matches against Italy, Wales and Ireland but will also be a major doubt for France and Scotland.

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Does this leave the door open for Steffon Armitage or will Johnno go with Michael Lipman?

 

[danny]

I think you can safely say ipman will get the nod . Id like to see Armitage be given a go but knowing England they will wait until we have lost the first 3 games.

 

[Sir Speedy]

I think I'll add that Lesley Vainikolo is out for the rest of the season.

 

[Hall]

Yeah but we don't really care about that

 

[danny]

Well on Vainikolo, he was actually starting to play really well. Not international well but good at club level. With this and his upcoming appearance at Bristol Crown court its not a good start to he new year for the Volcano

 

[Cymro]

Not much of a loss is old Lesley but Rees is a massive one!

 

[savundra92]

yeh lipman is probably the first choice. i want to see stefan armitage and jordan crane get given opportuntities to play back row for england also.

 

[gingergenius]

Back row isn't really a major issue for England, since we have a number of good players knocking on the door. It'll be a question of finding out who gels the best.

I'd love to see Armitage given a go. Lipman i think was very unlucky last year to be knocked aside following a very good 6N, but at the same time Rees is a better player. Lipman's also a more consistent GP performer... but he got a chance in the AIs and I have to say England looked better when Rees came on against NZ.

So Lipman would be the 2nd choice, but since that's as high as he'll go imo, it's worth giving Armitage a run to see what he's made of.

 

[Hall]

He's the form man at the minute. Definately deserves it.

 

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So i've seen Rees a lot, same with Lipman so i know what they are about but not seen much of Armitage.

So is he as good as everyone makes out?

 

[SaintsFan_Schweinsteiger_Webby]

I'd definately like to see another Armitage on the team sheet. Steffan reminds me a little of Neil Back somehow - very mobile and quite short, his low centre of gravity making him an absolute pain in the arse to properly clear out of rucks and stop him slowly the ball down.

 

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SaintsFan_Schweinsteiger_Webby @ Jan 13 2009, 06:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I'd definately like to see another Armitage on the team sheet. Steffan reminds me a little of Neil Back somehow - very mobile and quite short, his low centre of gravity making him an absolute pain in the arse to properly clear out of rucks and stop him slowly the ball down.[/b]

Sounds like quiet a beast then!