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Rugby Union

Moody out injured for France

10/08/2007

England flanker Lewis Moody has been ruled out of tomorrow's Rugby World Cup warm-up match against France with a torn calf muscle.

The Leicester man is thought to have been experiencing discomfort in his lower leg and was sent for scans by the England medical team.

Head coach Brian Ashton revealed that Moody had indeed suffered the injury but played down concerns that it could rule the player out of the tournament in France next month.

"A scan on Thursday showed a tiny calf muscle tear and it was just not worth the risk to play him," Ashton said.

Moody's injury is unlikely to sideline him for more than a couple of weeks, but he will not play at Twickenham tomorrow, so his place in the starting XV has been taken by Wasps' Joe Worsley.

Bath second row Steve Borthwick has been called into the match-day 22 to take Worsley's place on the replacements bench.

Moody, a 45-cap veteran, is expected to be named in Ashton's 30-man squad for the World Cup which begins in less than a month.

England's first game of the tournament is against the United States on September 8th, before two more matches against Samoa and South Africa to decide which two teams progress to the knockout stages.

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