Tragedy for Cohen as his father dies

England wing Ben Cohen today suffered a family tragedy with news that his father, Peter, had died in hospital just hours after the player was named in the England side to face Australia at Twickenham on Saturday

Cohen's father had spent three weeks in a coma in a Northampton hospital following a vicious nightclub attack.

Cohen today talked about the difficulty of concentrating on rugby while his father has been seriously ill in hospital.

He fully expected his father to continue the recovery but had seen him emerge from the coma and then regain the power of speech after being unable to talk for two and a half weeks.

But shortly after the Northampton player had tried to put his feelings into words for the first time to the media, England manager Clive Woodward ushered him out of the press room at the team's Bagshot hotel.

It was left to Woodward to break the terrible news that Cohen's father had died.

No decision has yet been made but it seems certain that Cohen will withdraw from the team to face Australia. He was named in the side in place of Austin Healey following an outstanding performance for his club on Saturday.

Cohen revealed today that after being made man of the match he had taken the bottle of champagne he had received to hospital for his father. Cohen said: "My father laughed when I handed it over and he was told last night by Mum that I was back in the England team. "This selection for England is against the odds and it's nice to get the rewards after such an uphill struggle this season."

Cohen's uncle, George, was a member of England's 1966 World Cup winning football team and the youngster made his international debut during England's Six Nations championship winning season. He was omitted for the first Test in South Africa last summer but returned for the victory in Bloemfontein.

He missed a Northampton game at the start of this season to be at his father's bedside following the attack which occurred in a nightclub run by his brother.