Elite director of rugby Rob Andrew insists Charlie Hodgson and Toby Flood will be available for England's tour of New Zealand.
Poor performance at Twickenham has no bearing on NZ tour
Elite director of rugby Rob Andrew insists Charlie Hodgson and Toby Flood will be fit for England's tour of New Zealand.
Both players picked up injuries during the below-par 17-14 win over the Barbarians on Sunday at Twickenham.
Fly-half Hodgson required 13 stitches to a cut beneath his left eye after a clash of heads with Baa-baas flanker Jerry Collins and Flood was also forced to off after a similar collision.
But Andrew said: "They will both be fine. The initial reports are that they will both be fine to travel. It was a physical work-out, that's for sure."
England do have concerns over Dan Hipkiss though after the Leicester Tiger was injured during the Guinness Premiership final defeat to Wasps.
If the centre is ruled out - England leave London for Auckland on Monday night - then Wasps' Dominic Waldouck could be called up as a replacement from the Churchill Cup squad.
"Dan took a blow to his cheekbone and eye socket," Andrew added.
"We are waiting on some results before a final decision is made. We have got people on standby."
Scrapped home
England scraped home and never really found their rhythm against a physical Barbarian outfit, though Andrew insists it will have no bearing on the two Tests against New Zealand.
"This has got nothing to do with the All Blacks," he said.
"There are guys joining us this evening from Wasps, Leicester and Bath, and we will regroup tomorrow (Monday) and take it from there.
"In terms of the All Blacks, it has got little bearing. The Barbarians have got a right to do what they want.
"They caused us problems in what was a very physical contest, but no-one could get the ball away from the breakdown on either side.
"The Barbarians were very streetwise, they made it very difficult. It was hard for either side to get quick ball and we couldn't get the momentum we were looking for.
"The Barbarians came with a very determined effort to stop us playing and they succeeded."
Disappointed
Former England World Cup hooker Mark Regan, who captained the Barbarians, denied suggestions his team's game plan had been to prevent England from playing.
"We didn't come here to kill the game," he insisted. "I felt we were harshly dealt with at the breakdown.
"We didn't get the rub of the green and we are very disappointed we didn't win. It was a tight game with two good defences."
