Brian Ashton speaks exclusively to RFU.com on the new caps for South Africa vs England
22 May 2007 England Head Coach, Brian Ashton today commented exclusively on his three new caps for the first test against South Africa in Bloemfontein on May 26th to rfu.com
Brian Ashton said "Michael Brown (NEC Harlequins) has been, in my opinion, the form full back in the Guinness Premiership especially in the second half of the season. He has a number of qualities that I'm looking forward to him transferring to the international stage. He has the traditional values of a full back and he is a lot of natural footballing ability and a good knack of scoring tries.
"Dean Schofield (Sale Sharks) has been around a while at club level and has been a lynch pin for the Sale Sharks pack this season. He is very hard working and grafts well. He had two good games for the England Saxons and fully deserves his opportunity to start on Saturday.
"Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby) had a very good end of season and he's a player I have known since I worked with him at the National Academy. He is a good scrummager and good defender and good with ball in hand. I'm looking forward to seeing all three make a contribution on Saturday against South Africa.
