Flood awaits injury call for England starting role

Toby Flood's patience may be rewarded as he waits on news of injuries to England duo Jonny Wilkinson and Mike Tindall ahead of Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against France here at Eden Park.

The Leicester fly-half has had to bide his time with cameo appearances at the tournament but reports suggest he may get a starting role as England seek to play a higher tempo game than in their stodgy 16-12 win over Scotland last weekend. Wilkinson is fighting an elbow injury, but trained lightly on Tuesday, while inside-centre Tindall is struggling with a stiff leg and has yet to train this week ahead of Thursday's team announcement.

Flood came on for Tindall with nine minutes left and threw the long pass that put wing Chris Ashton over for the winning try with two minutes left against the Scots last weekend. The 26-year-old Flood also has the better goalkicking stats than his more illustrious team-mate Wilkinson at the tournament - he has nailed 10 of his 13 attempts at goal while Wilkinson has managed nine out of 20.

Flood has amassed 223 points in his 45 internationals while Wilkinson has 1,177 points from his 90 Tests spread over 13 years - an England record points total and a tally bettered in all international rugby only by New Zealand's Dan Carter.