England
Eastmond passed fit to face Springboks
ESPN Staff
November 11, 2014
Kyle Eastmond is fit to face South Africa this Saturday after recovering from illness © Getty Images
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England defence coach Mike Catt has revealed centre Kyle Eastmond has shaken off a stomach bug to be passed fit for the second of England's Autumn Internationals against South Africa at Twickenham this Saturday. Catt also said that Semesa Rokodoguni and Dave Attwood, who'd been suffering from hip and knee injuries respectively, had taken a full part in training on Tuesday.

"Kyle was a bit ill but trained fully and has recovered and Roko was also taking a full part along with Dave Attwood," said Catt.

The news of Eastmond's recovery makes it less likely that George Ford and Owen Farrell will be paired together at fly-half and inside centre against the Springboks and Catt suggeted he expects Eastmond to retain his place.

"At the moment Kyle is doing alright alongside Owen," Catt said. "Kyle got some good hits in against New Zealand. He looked confident and we expect a big performance this weekend too.

"Picking Owen and George would mean two ball-playing fly-halves in the team. From my experiences of playing with Jonny Wilkinson, it works if you want to play a particular game. They are both still very young and the beauty about those two is that it's all about the team. It is not about them as individuals. They have one hell of a relationship, but we will obviously address it when it needs to be addressed. If picking them is what's best for the team, then I am sure Stuart will do it."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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