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.