England left for their five-match tour to Australia and New Zealand today without the Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson, who suffered a hamstring strain after coming on as a replacement against the Barbarians at Twickenham yesterday. He was replaced by Paul Hodgson, of London Irish, who came off the bench three times in this year's Six Nations.
Two other players who were injured against the Barbarians, the outside-half Charlie Hodgson and the prop Jon Golding, were deemed fit to travel, along with Jonny Wilkinson, who will not be able to take contact for another week because of a rib injury.
The England captain, Lewis Moody, wants his side, who will play two Tests against Australia on 12 and 19 June, to carry on where they left off in their final match in the Six Nations. England were a kick away from denying France a grand slam in Paris.
"We have to create a winning environment," said Moody, who signed off after 14 years with Leicester on Saturday by helping the Tigers retain the Premiership title. "Australia is a tough place to go: we have only won there a couple of times and our record on tour since 2003 is not good. We have a lot of work to do as a team.
"We built up some momentum in France and we have to take that forward. It is always difficult when you have a long break from international rugby and go back to your club but we have to re-adapt quickly. I am very excited about the potential of the squad. We are under no illusions about what lies ahead of us but we are on the right track. Winning is what matters and we need to have a successful tour."
Glen Jackson, who made his last appearance for Saracens in the final against Leicester before returning to his native New Zealand to start a refereeing course, believes England have made a mistake in not selecting his now former club-mate Alex Goode for the tour.
"Alex is ready for England now," Jackson said. "He is going to be world-class and putting him in the Saxons squad makes no sense to me. He has had an excellent season at full-back and would have benefited from being in Australia with the senior team. Saracens are going to use him at outside-half at times next season but that is not a position where you can rush anyone because it is such a tough position."
Saracens today completed their pre-season signings with the recruitment of the centre Nils Mordt, who has played for London Irish, Northampton and Harlequins, and the Nottingham prop Matt Parr. The England hooker Steve Thompson became the latest English player to leave Brive and signed a two-year contract with Leeds. Promoted Exeter have signed the outside-half Ryan Davis from Bath.
