Armitage ban opens door for Cueto as England wait on Wilkinson and Tindall

Cueto was axed for England’s decisive pool victory over Scotland despite scoring a hat-trick against Romania, with the England management opting for Delon Armitage on the left wing.

But Armitage’s one-match ban for a “dangerous high tackle” on Chris Paterson has opened the way for Cueto’s return – and the Sale star has a week of bottled-up frustration to unleash on Les Bleus.

Cueto had played 29 consecutive Tests before a back injury kept him out of England’s opening two World Cup games but he returned with a bang.

After running in a quick-fire hat-trick past the Romanians, Cueto was convinced he was back on song and would be in manager Martin Johnson’s starting line-up against Scotland.

“The thought didn’t come into my head about not getting picked for the next week (against Scotland),” Cueto said. “To then get dropped after a hat-trick I was like ‘oh my God, where am I at here?’ Johnno explained his decision and we had a chat. I was 100 per cent fit but the coaches weren’t convinced.

“I maybe spat my dummy out for a while. I was sulking. I was hugely disappointed.

“Experience is telling me it is a long competition. For me the comparisons with this and the last World Cup in 2007 are just uncanny.

“In 2007 I played in the pool stages and got a hamstring injury against Tonga. I missed the quarter-final against Australia and the semi-final against France. Josh (Lewsey) pulled his hamstring in the semi and I got in for the final of the World Cup.

“It is such a crazy competition. You can’t compare it to anything else. One minute you are at the bottom of the pile and suicidal, for want of a better phrase, and the next minute you are playing in a World Cup final and top of the pile.”

England’s only other wing option is Matt Banahan but Johnson may well need him to cover the centres as Mike Tindall struggles with a dead leg.

Armitage was cited after England’s 16-12 victory over Scotland and pleaded guilty to the charge at a disciplinary hearing in Auckland yesterday.

The independent judicial officer, Bruce Squire QC, halved Armitage’s potential ban after taking into account a number of mitigating factors.

England’s concerns over the fitness of Jonny Wilkinson continued for another day as they wait to discover whether the arm injury he suffered against Scotland will rule him out of the France game.

“It’s a shame to lose Delon as he has played well but these things happen,” said Johnson.

“Both (Tindall and Wilkinson) are responding to treatment so we will just have to see where they are up to when we get back into light training tomorrow.”