Balshaw's England call-up fuels Bath fury

Iain Balshaw's presence in a 27-man England squad for next weekend's Six Nations game with Wales at Twickenham raised plenty of eyebrows yesterday, not least among the hard-pressed hierarchy at Bath. Earlier this week, the West Countrymen were on the wrong end of a fierce tongue-lashing from Chris Spice, the Rugby Football Union's performance director, after withdrawing the full-back from national seven-a-side duty – criticism that now seems entirely unjustified, given that Clive Woodward, the England manager, would have withdrawn him anyway.

Six points off the bottom of the Premiership and riddled with injuries to élite backs – Gareth Cooper, Mike Catt, Kevin Maggs and Matt Perry are among the internationals on the long-term casualty list – Bath decided, not unreasonably, that they could use Balshaw's services in Sunday's dog-fight at Saracens. When Gloucester and Harlequins also pulled rank and prevented important personnel travelling to Beijing for the latest round of the World Sevens Series, Spice blew a gasket and accused the clubs of undermining English designs on a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in August.

Woodward's decision to recall the 22-year-old Lion, having relegated him to the second-string A squad for the business in France a fortnight ago, appears to leave Spice in an awkward position. The clubs reacted angrily to the performance director's comments – they plan to raise the matter at next Tuesday's board meeting of England Rugby – and Bath, in particular, will press him for an apology.

Balshaw's inclusion is also significant because it allows Woodward to at least consider playing Jason Robinson at outside centre, an idea the manager has been toying with for some weeks. Woodward is searching for a cutting edge in the wider position, and few players on the planet have more edge than the former rugby league international. Robinson has never looked entirely comfortable at full-back – Aurelien Rougerie and the rest of the French threequarters exposed his limitations in Paris – and if Woodward is serious about giving him a midfield role at next year's World Cup, now is the time to experiment.

With Martin Johnson suspended and Henry Paul dropped from the squad following his ridiculously premature red rose debut at Stade de France, Balshaw is among seven call-ups. Matthew Dawson, finally back in business after the trauma of Grand Slam failure in Dublin last October, should make the match-day 22 ahead of the Harlequins scrum-half Nick Duncombe, while Steve Borthwick, the A captain from Bath, and Charlie Hodgson, the Sale outside-half, also have strong chances of making the bench. The Bath hooker Mark Regan, the Bristol prop Julian White and the Leicester flanker Lewis Moody have also been pulled in for training.

Scotland, meanwhile, have included the Northampton centre John Leslie in their initial party for the match with France at Murrayfield tomorrow week. The Scottish midfield failed to stack up against Brian O'Driscoll in Dublin last time out and Leslie, who has not played international rugby since the defeat by New Zealand in Edinburgh during the autumn, may well find himself back in the fray against the threatening Tricolore pairing of Damien Traille and Tony Marsh.

The Ireland captain, Keith Wood, is set to make his first Championship appearance of the season against Italy. The talismanic Harlequins hooker, who has not played for three months because of a calf injury, will make his comeback for his club against Newcastle tomorrow and was included in Ireland's 23-man squad.

On the political front, the increasingly bitter feuding over the 2003 World Cup reached fresh levels of vituperation yesterday when the directors of Rugby World Cup Ltd mounted a defence of their chairman, the Welsh lawyer Vernon Pugh, in the face of criticism from New Zealand following the collapse of the All Black nation's bid to partner Australia as tournament hosts.

In a statement, the directors complained of "exaggerated and/or inaccurate reports" concerning the sub-host agreement, and of personal criticisms of Pugh by senior officials of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, who have accused the chairman of making decisions off his own bat. They described the criticisms as "without foundation" and "totally inappropriate", and reiterated their confidence in Pugh's leadership.

England Squad: (v Wales, Six Nations' Championship, Twickenham, 23 March): Backs: I Balshaw (Bath); B Cohen (Northampton), W Greenwood (Harlequins), M Tindall (Bath), D Luger (Harlequins), J Robinson (Sale), J Wilkinson (Newcastle), C Hodgson (Sale), A Healey (Leicester), K Bracken (Saracens), M Dawson (Northampton), N Duncombe (Harlequins). Forwards: G Rowntree (Leicester), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Gloucester), D West (Leicester), J Leonard (Harlequins), M Regan (Bath), D Grewcock (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), N Back (Leicester), R Hill (Saracens), J Worsley (Wasps), M Corry (Leicester), S Borthwick (Bath), L Moody (Leicester), J White (Bristol).

Scotland Squad: (v France, Six Nations' Championship, Murrayfield, 23 March): Backs: G Beveridge, A Henderson (both Glasgow), D Hodge, B Laney (both Edinburgh), J Leslie (Northampton), K Logan (Wasps), J McLaren, G Metcalfe (both Glasgow), C Paterson (Edinburgh), B Redpath (Sale, capt), G Townsend (Castres). Forwards: G Bulloch (Glasgow), G Graham, S Grimes (both Newcastle), M Leslie (Edinburgh), S Murray (Saracens), J Petrie (Glasgow), B Pountney (Northampton), R Russell (Saracens), T Smith, M Stewart (Northampton), S Taylor (Edinburgh), J White (Glasgow).