Door opens for Shaw

England's defence of the Six Nations Championship was dealt another blow today when they were forced to withdraw Bath lock Steve Borthwick from the squad to face Italy in Rome on Sunday.

Borthwick has been cited for allegedly kneeing his new captain, Lawrence Dallaglio of Wasps, in the head during a club match on Saturday.

As a result, Simon Shaw, the Wasps lock, has been drafted into the replacements, a position many thought he should have been given in the first place.

England, already missing key players through injury and retirement, have now been disrupted by one of their own former internationals, Peter Larter, the independent citing officer.

Larter studied the match video and decided, on his own, that Borthwick should appear before a hearing which cannot take place until next Tuesday.

Under Six Nations rules, Borthwick cannot be included in any match squad after being cited.

Ironically, he would be able to play for Bath if they had a game next weekend as the Zurich Premiership operates a different citing procedure.

Head coach Clive Woodward admitted today that it could have been England who caused the Six Nations to adopt their own citing procedure. England selected the then captain Martin Johnson to face France two years ago after he appealed against a ban after being cited in an English club match.

This anomaly gives Shaw an opportunity to prove that he should be among the best 22 players in England, and Woodward admitted the Wasps lock was 'very highly motivated'.

Woodward said: 'Steve Borthwick is very upset and annoyed. I only learned last night that he had been cited - it was confirmed this morning and these things are sent to try us.

'I understand the incident involved Lawrence Dallaglio and under the system if Steve had been sent off and dealt with he could have been available for us. But that isn't the procedure for the Six Nations. I think they changed it because we picked Johnson two years ago.

'I'm not sure that the citing officer in this case realised it would stop Steve from playing in Rome and it's very unfortunate.

'I don't make the rules and we have to deal with it and move on. Selection was done on merit and that's why Danny Grewcock was chosen and we put Steve on the bench. Simon was annoyed but now he has got a chance.'