Lancaster selects strong England XV squad to face Barbarians at Twickenham
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ENGLAND Head Coach Stuart Lancaster has named an England XV squad to play the Barbarians next Sunday, kick off at 3pm at Twickenham. The 24-man squad includes 10 players from England’s World Cup training group, announced earlier this week, including Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons), Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers) and Marland Yarde (Harlequins). The England side will be captained by the experienced scrum half Lee Dickson who has 18 international caps to his name and also led the England Saxons team to victory against the Irish Wolfhounds in Cork earlier this year. The Barbarians fixture will also provide an opportunity for those who narrowly missed out on the initial 50-man World Cup squad to impress as well as the chance for a number of up-and-coming players to work with England’s senior coaches next week and play against a host of top internationals at Twickenham. The match is part of a double-header season finale at the home of England Rugby next weekend which will also see Bath Rugby play Saracens in the Premiership Final. Players from those clubs featuring in Saturday’s final as well as Gloucester Rugby, who will play in the European Rugby Champions Cup play-off final after beating Connacht Rugby this afternoon, were not available for selection. England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “This is an exciting squad with a good mix of young players who have performed well in the Premiership this season, players on the fringes of the World Cup squad and those already selected. “It gives us some valuable time together before the training camps begin next month to assess those who could come into the group before the World Cup and also a chance to assess those who should come into the reckoning beyond 2015.” “The Barbarians team is full of quality and experienced internationals who will play together this week against Ireland ahead of our game so it will provide a real test for this group and we are looking forward to that challenge.” Dave Ewers (Exeter Chiefs) was not considered for selection due to an injury (concussion) he picked up during round 21 of the Premiership. Last season’s fixture saw an experienced Barbarians team beat the England XV side 39-29 in an entertaining eight-try match in front of over 50,000 supporters at Twickenham. Tickets for the match are priced from £35 and £15 for juniors (U16) at ticketmaster.co.uk or 0844 847 2492. England XV squad to play Barbarians: Backs Will Chudley (Exeter Chiefs) Forwards Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks) Tickets for the England XV v Barbarians match are priced from £35 and £15 for juniors (U16) at ticketmaster.co.uk or 0844 847 2492. |
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