Don't put the boot in on Danny, he's the hard man we need

MY VERY simple message for England lock Danny Grewcock is: mate, you have to stay on the pitch for the full 80 minutes.

We cannot afford to lose a player of his experience and power for 10 minutes in the sin bin against France because it could cost us the match.

I was with former Wales captain Ieuan Evans after the match in Cardiff, and he was adamant that Danny (below) should have been sent off. I totally disagreed.

What Danny did was clumsy at worst and you have to understand exactly what he was trying to do at the moment that his boot came into contact with their scrum-half's head.

If anyone believes that Danny was deliberately kicking Dwayne Peel in the head at that moment then they are crackers.

Danny was trying to delay Wales winning ball on our line by getting his boot in the way at the ruck because he couldn't use his hands. It was Peel ducking down to get the ball that led to the contact.

Show me an international forward who hasn't been sin-binned at some stage of his career, who hasn't put himself about and played the role of enforcer when necessary and I will show you an average Test player.

I was always happy to have Danny with me for England and the Lions because he is the kind of player you want on your side. He is a really awesome forward, big and powerful and prepared to stand up and be counted when the going gets tough - a quality you always need against France.

It does bring a smile to my face when there is a big reaction to an incident in an international match these days because, to be quite honest, it's child's play to what we used to get away with before all the cameras and citing officers came along.

In my first international against Argentina in Buenos Aires in 1990, there was so much happening that if we had the current help for the referee in that match it would have ended up as a seven- aside game!

The game is 90 per cent cleaner these days and we have to keep it all in perspective.

England versus France matches are always intensely confrontational, but my main concern about our team is the number of changes. Phil Vickery replacing the injured Julian White at prop is understandable.

I just hope the other four changes made by head coach Andy Robinson aren't an indication that the panic button is being pressed.

You have to ask: If those four players (Chris Jones, Mathew Tait, Matt Dawson and Andy Hazell) were good enough to play a week ago, why are they deemed surplus to requirements a week later?

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