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Replacement for Launchbury

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Officials of England Rugby have been forced into a change of personnel in their squad of 42 strong that only arrived in South Africa on Friday, the 1st of June for the three tests, and five match tour of The Springboks. Uncapped flanker Jamie Gibson of the London Irish has been drafted into the side after it was revealed that Joe Launchbury, the lock for the London Wasps will not be able to take any part on the tour thanks to a knee injury that had been troubling him for some time now, culminating finally in ruling him out of the duty against South Africa.

Stuart Lancaster, the coach of the England Rugby team was speaking at a press conference where he made the announcement of Gibson replacing the injured Launchbury for the tour. According to the coach, the Wasps lock had the niggling knee problem for quite some time and he aggravated the injury during the last training session that the team had at home before embarking on the tour.

He also added that the medical personnel had made an assessment of the injury back home and it has now been confirmed that Launchbury will play no part in the tour of South Africa. And this injury to Launchbury is not the only thing that is bothering the coach. Manu Tuilagi, the Samoa born England back sat out of the first training session for the team on the tour with a foot injury and although it is believed to be nothing serious, Lancaster will be praying that he is not robbed of yet another quality player.

Lancaster is being seen as the savior of England Rugby after its dreadful performances in the Rugby World Cup of 2011 and he is hoping that the players’ injuries do not become an obstacle in that mission.

LANCASTER NAMED MANAGER

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Stuart Lancaster was appointed as the head coach of the England Rugby Team on a permanent basis just on Thursday and he has gone down to work already, laying his blue print ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup on home soil and he already has elaborate plans for success in the tournament where the hosts will start as one of the pre tournament favorites to lift the famous trophy.

Lancaster landed one of the most prestigious jobs in the world of rugby on a permanent basis after a string of impressive performances as an interim boss during which time; he led the team to 4 wins out of five in the recently concluded Six Nations tournament that culminated in 30-9 humiliation of the Ireland national team at Twickenham earlier in the month. Nick Mallett, the former head coach of the South African and Italian national teams was also in the running for the job as head coach of the England Rugby Team but according to the reports, what clinched the deal for the 42 year old was his immense popularity among the players and the fans and his decent record with the team.

The former Leeds Carnegie player said that this appointment as the head coach of his own national team was a very proud feeling for him and it meant that he had reached the pinnacle of his short coaching career.

But he is not ready to rest on his achievements and wants to lead his team back to the top and the only way to do it, according to Lancaster is by winning the Rugby World Cup 2015 that will take place on home soil and he believes that with the squad that the England Rugby Team has at the moment, failure to win the tournament is not even an option.