Lawrence Dallaglio always relishes a trip to Italy, the land of his father, and the England manager Clive Woodward has granted the fit-again Wasps captain his fondest wish. After less than one and a half club games Dallaglio is back in the England squad for their concluding Six Nations game in Rome on Sunday, poised to win his first cap for exactly a year.
Restoring England's former captain to the bench, however, is by no means Woodward's only intriguing selection. Not only has Austin Healey been dropped to make way for the fit-again Jason Robinson but the incumbent captain Martin Johnson is no more than a replacement after his recent return from suspension.
For the first time, therefore, Neil Back, winning his 50th cap, will captain an England squad containing Johnson, but Woodward moved swiftly to call off the conspiracy theorists tempted to interpret this as a sign that the 32-year-old Johnson is no longer a certainty to lead his country into next year's World Cup.
"No one should read anything into Martin Johnson starting on the bench," Woodward said last night. "It is purely because I want to see Danny Grewcock and Ben Kay play together again, and Martin will have a major part to play in the game."
With Robinson available to resume at full-back after missing the Wales game, Healey can count himself unlucky at the management's decision to keep faith with the wing Dan Luger, scorer of two tries against Wales.
As for Dallaglio, Woodward stresses he has been "included on merit" rather than reputation, knee ligament surgery in July having kept him out of the England frame since the corresponding weekend last year when he earned his 47th cap as part of the side who defeated France 48-19 at Twickenham.
His recuperation has seen him increase his weight to 18 stone but his performance in Wasps' 36-24 weekend win over Leicester demonstrated that he still has the necessary pace and desire. "The knee's history; there is no knee," he insists.
With the destination of the Six Nations title resting on Ireland's trip to Paris this weekend, there was further encouragement for England yesterday when the inspirational Keith Wood and his fellow Lion Rob Henderson were recalled to Irish colours for Saturday's crunch encounter at the Stade de France.
If Ireland are to repeat their sensational win of two years ago and deny France a grand slam, opening the door for England to reclaim their title in Rome, the return of Wood as captain and hooker for his first Six Nations outing of the season is a prerequisite.
Memories of Henderson and his centre partner Brian O'Driscoll combining to end their side's 28-year wait for a Paris victory will also be rekindled by the restoration of Henderson to the Irish midfield after the groin strain that curtailed his efforts as a replacement wing against England at Twickenham. Shane Horgan reverts to the right wing at the expense of the unlucky John Kelly, scorer of two debut tries against Italy last month.
Apart from the predictable return of the fit-again prop Pieter de Villiers, the French have named an unchanged line-up as they seek their first grand slam since 1998 and their eighth successive Test win.
England (v Italy): Robinson (Sale); Luger (Harlequins), Tindall (Bath), Greenwood (Harlequins), Cohen (Northampton); Wilkinson (Newcastle), Bracken (Saracens); Rowntree (Leicester), Thompson (Northampton), White (Bristol), Grewcock (Bath), Kay (Leicester), Moody (Leicester), Back (Leicester, capt), Hill (Saracens). Replacements: West (Leicester), Leonard (Harlequins), Johnson (Leicester), Dallaglio (Wasps), Dawson (Northampton), Hodgson (Sale), Healey (Leicester).
France (v Ireland): Brusque (Biarritz); Rougerie (Montferrand), Traille (Pau), Marsh (Montferrand), Bory (Montferrand); Merceron (Montferrand), Galthié (Stade Français, capt); Crenca (Agen), Ibanez (Castres), De Villiers (Stade Français), Pelous (Toulouse), Brouzet (Northampton), Betsen (Biarritz), Magne (Montferrand), Harinordoquy (Pau). Replacements: Azam (Gloucester), Poux (Narbonne), Auradou (Stade Français), Martin (Stade Français), Mignoni (Béziers), Gelez (Agen), Marlu (Montferrand).
Ireland (v France): Dempsey (Terenure); Horgan (Lansdowne), O'Driscoll (Blackrock), Henderson (Young Munster), Hickie (St Mary's); Humphreys (Dungannon), Stringer (Shannon); Clohessy (Young Munster), Wood (Harlequins, capt), Hayes (Shannon), Longwell (Ballymena), O'Kelly (St Mary's), S Easterby (Llanelli), D Wallace (Garryowen), Foley (Shannon). Replacements: Byrne (Blackrock), P Wallace (Blackrock), O'Connell (Young Munster), Gleeson (St Mary's), G Easterby (Llanelli), O'Gara, Kelly (both Cork Constitution).
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