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'Lack of concentration' Woodward angry at officials; England crush US 'A'
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- England manager Clive Woodward threatened to take his team off the pitch during its 83-21 tour match win over United States A on Tuesday unless one of the touch judges focused fully on the game. Woodward was unhappy with the locally-appointed touch judges and appeared to remonstrate with one of them during the match for apparently not paying full attention. "It is this lack of concentration that can lead to players ending up in wheelchairs," Woodward said after the game. He was nevertheless pleased with England's performance at the University of California, Los Angeles campus ground in the penultimate game of their five-match North American tour. "It was a very impressive display, especially given the fact that we had to fly down from San Francisco to Los Angeles for the match and had to overcome a number of niggly problems. "But the important thing was that everyone kept his focus. All the players got the basics right," said Woodward, pleased the match was refereed by an International Board appointee, Steve Walsh of New Zealand, and not a local official. Woodward, who is expected Wednesday to announce his team for the test against the United States in San Francisco on Saturday, has a genuine choice of players after his so-called second string side ran in 13 tries in Tuesday's win. There is healthy competition for the right wing position, now up for grabs as a result of a leg injury to Paul Sampson that ruled the Wasps player out of the remainder of the tour. But the likelihood is that Woodward will move Leon Lloyd from outside center to wing and bring in a new test center, the obvious candidate from the Los Angeles game being Fraser Waters. "I thought that among the backs Waters was the stand-out player," said Woodward, after observing an impressive display from the Wasps center. Elsewhere in the backs, Martyn Wood may start in place of Kyran Bracken if the England tour skipper fails to recover from the shoulder blow he received against Canada last weekend. Among the forwards Tom Palmer could have forced his way into the test side and there may be a place for one of the Sanderson brothers -- Sale's Alex or Harlequins' Pat -- both of whom were picked out by Woodward for excellent displays in Los Angeles. The other player who might be promoted is Ollie Barkley. The 19-year-old Bath player had an impressive game at inside center and may earn a place on the bench because of his versatility.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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