England to cut Mark Cueto

MARK CUETO’S three tries and man-of-the-match award against Romania appear not to have been enough to secure him a starting place against Scotland on Saturday. He marked his first start in the tournament following a back injury with a 12-minute hat-trick last Saturday. But England manager Martin Johnson is poised to recall Delon Armitage for the Pool B decider here at Eden Park – a confusing choice even allowing for the relative paucity of the Romanian opposition. Armitage had looked what he was – a full-back out of position – in England’s first two games, whereas Cueto looked the part. Johnson also looks set to prefer Matt Stevens to Alex Corbisiero as loosehead prop. Stevens’ ankle remains strapped but he is over the injury and trained fully for the first time yesterday. Stevens knows he is going to have to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to scrum time. He was penalised heavily in England’s victory over Georgia but has vowed there will be no repeat on Saturday.“I stick my hand up,” said Stevens. “Our intention as an England pack is to always go forward if we get the hit. At loosehead, it is important to get a quick bind and hold that grip. “Sometimes with the force coming through the packs you miss the jersey or it’s a tight jersey and you can’t get that bind. “But that is up to me to sort out. That’s what I’m doing and I’ve been working on that a lot.” Stevens has played most of his rugby at his preferred position of tighthead but the dynamics changed in the England squad after Andrew Sheridan returned home with a shoulder injury. “There is definitely more of a focus for me on loosehead,” he said. “Alex Corbisiero showed last week he is a great player at loosehead, Dan Cole is doing really well at tighthead and Davey Wilson also did well.“Scotland are quick across the mark and they scrummed well against Georgia but, as long as I can keep my bind up, we will be fine.” Lock Courtney Lawes is also fully integrated into the squad after his suspension and his intense physicality is likely to get him the nod over Tom Palmer’s sophistication.