Okay, you’ve seen the stories suggesting England have slight injury problems before their crucial Pool C clash against South Africa on Saturday.
I hate to be a scaremonger but I think things may be worse than we fear.
Yes, first choice scrumhalf Matt Dawson has a 50-50 chance of playing after picking up a “knock on the leg” during England’s emphatic 84-6 win over Georgia here in Perth on Sunday night.
Remember Dawson, the tip-and-go penalty expert, was already carrying a calf injury sustained in training last week.
But what about his stand-in Kyran Bracken, who started so many of England’s big games this year? Coach Clive Woodward says he may be back in training later in the week.
But I saw Kyran struggling with his back during the match. The England subs were about 20m away during Sunday night’s games and he looked distinctly uncomfortable.
And what about the unspoken injury? I’m told Andy Gomarsall, the Gloucester scrum half whom played for 50 minutes of Sunday’s win, was in a right state for the last ten minutes.
Sure, he played well. In fact I reckon Gomarsall is the best of the three. He’s creative, a good passer, he moves well and he can kick if Jonny Wilkinson gets injured.
He’s also extremely articulate when it comes to press interviews, which does influence us rugby writers.
But if Gomarsall is carrying some sort of knock, then we are left with Martyn Wood.
He’s the Wasps fly-half who was left out in the cold by Welsh star Robert Howley’s arrival at Adams Park. After a season in the shadows, Wood has moved to Bath and played an major role in their perfect start to the international-free Zurich Premiership.
Wood is due to arrive here this morning, which means that Woodward had made his phone calls even before he told us on Sunday night: “You can’t tell how bad an injury is until 24 hours after the game. We won’t be making a decision until the morning.”
Such misinformation does Woodward no good at all. We should have realised the truth when Woodward told us that Austin Healey, the on-standby Leicester utility back who could play at No 9, suffered a calf problem during the Tigers warm up at the weekend.
The truth is, England may well be forced to try a rookie at the base of the scrum on Saturday with Joost van der Westhuizen, South Africa’s most-capped player, sniping away at him.
Further worries arise: Bath captain Danny Grewcock, the only unused replacement on Sunday night, apparently broke a toe while warming up against Georgia.
Ben Cohen, the big England wing, stood on his foot. Woodward says: “We don’t want Danny to play against South Africa but if one of the locks get injured, he might play.”
Centre Mike Tindall also picked up a knock but Woodward insists: “I think everyone will be fit with the exception of Dawson.”
But do we believe that?.
If Bracken and Gomarsall don’t make it, Wood, who has two caps as a replacement but little experience of the current World Cup squad, may start.
And that has to be a positive for the Springboks.