Charlie Hodgson edges ahead in new battle for No10

Martin Johnson has no reason to panic when

A serious ankle injury will sideline the London Wasps fly-half for six months, and fellow No10s Jonny Wilkinson and Shane Geraghty will miss next month's two-Test trip with shoulder problems.

However, England can still travel Down Under with world class No10s in Charlie Hodgson, Toby Flood and Olly Barkley, with team manager Johnson
also able to call up Ryan Lamb of Gloucester, Leicester's Andy Goode or Adrian Jarvis of Harlequins.

In the past — most notably 1998, 2004 and 2007 — summer tours to the Southern Hemisphere have been disastrous because so many front-line England
players have been ruled out by injury or fatigue.

However, English rugby is now bolstered by the first generation of players to come through the Academy system — headed by Cipriani — and the
game in this country has never been stronger.

That is why, despite the loss of key men such as Cipriani, Wilkinson, Harry Ellis, Phil Vickery, Simon Shaw and Josh Lewsey, Johnson can still wave
goodbye to his 32-man squad at Heathrow — he is staying at home for the birth of his second child — safe in the knowledge that New Zealand rugby chiefs cannot accuse him of selling the All Blacks and their fans short.

With the rankings for the 2011 Rugby World Cup to be dictated by where countries finish in the standings this year, it is crucial England are seriously competitive in New Zealand and during
the four autumn internationals at Twickenham against the All Blacks, Australia, South Africa and the Pacific Barbarians.

Cipriani's horribly disfigured right ankle, which required surgery and a metal plate to restore to normality, removes him from all of those matches
and opens the door for Hodgson to show again that he is a genuinely talented play-maker, capable of running an international team.