Woodward waits on injured tourists

Wilkinson's half-back partner Matt Dawson is also injured

England coach Clive Woodward is set to announce his 35-man squad to tour South Africa after a 24-hour delay to allow injured players extra time for assessment.

Outside-half Jonny Wilkinson and Bristol lock Andy Sheridan were late withdrawals from their respective club matches at the weekend.

Ideally I would prefer him (Wilkinson) to stay, but that is not being realistic

Rob Andrew, Newcastle director of rugby

And niggling injuries to captain Matt Dawson and Gareth Archer, have forced Woodward to take an extra day in order to assess the situation.

Newcastle star Wilkinson has been plagued by a persistent groin injury and is set to visit a specialist for a final verdict on the extent of the damage.

A negative outcome would almost certainly rule him out of the tour.

Falcons director of rugby Rob Andrew has already stated that he would rather the 20-year-old star did not go to South Africa, because he is unhappy about the gruelling demands made of England's top players.

"Ideally I would prefer him to stay but that is not being realistic," said Andrew.

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"He is having a check-up to find the extent of the injury. The groin injury concerns me because we have seen a lot of players struggle with them.

"I don't think he is a doubt for the tour, but we have to be cautious."

Andrew is a strong believer that the English domestic season needs to be restructured to reduce the workload on players.

"We are back in the situation of trying to decide which interests are better served, the club or the country," he said.

"We are doing northern hemisphere rugby a disservice with the structure we currently have.

"We have to find a solution which works well for all sides."

Another major injury worry is Wilkinson's half-back partner and England captain Dawson, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in a Premiership match 10 days ago.

Captaincy question

That could open the door for a return to the helm by lock Martin Johnson, who sat out England's Six Nations campaign with a series of injuries, but recovered in time to lead Leicester to their second consecutive Premiership title.

A possible, if unlikely contender for skipper is Lawrence Dallaglio, who resigned the captaincy in disgrace almost exactly a year ago.

Woodward is likely to take the chance of blooding some young forwards, including prop David Flatman who is pressing veteran Jason Leonard for a place in the side.

England already have one of the youngest back-lines in world rugby and their coach will be aiming to build the foundations in the forwards for the next World Cup in 2003.

Six Nations debutant Iain Balshaw has already been ruled out of the tour, but the party will be boosted by the return to fitness of experienced players like scrum-half Kyran Bracken and Johnson.