Woodward counts walking wounded

England manager Clive Woodward surveyed the wreckage of his side's 43-29 defeat by a star-studded Barbarians side and said there was no need to panic.  

He watched his team absorb a battering from a physical Barbarians outfit .

By the end of the game Woodward, who takes England on a three-Test tour of North America on Monday, was left reading a lengthy casualty list which included six front-line players.

"Josh Lewsey has popped a couple of ribs so obviously he is going to struggle," said Woodward. "Ben Johnston made a break and seemed to do his hamstring - those two are the most obvious problems.

"Mark Regan got a bang on the head and we are not sure if it is concussion or not. He could be okay. Simon Shaw went over on his ankle.

"I had a quick chat with him and he thinks he will be okay. Paul Sampson has a shoulder problem but I think he'll be all right.

"But there is no need to panic. We just have to stay very cool about it and make a decision on what to do now over the next 24 hours."

England, who started with a generous sprinkling of youth in their ranks, made a nervous start against the Barbarians but they hauled their way back in to the match and pushed the tourists all the way.

And despite the number of injuries sustained during the afternoon, Woodward remained positive about his side's performance.

"I'm extremely proud of what they did today," he said.

"They weren't used to the style of play in the first 20 minutes. Every time we kicked the ball away they scored. If we could just have held on to the ball during the first 20 minutes it could have been a different result.

"But they played extremely well and we did take a lot out of the game. I just hope they are all fit to be picked for next week."