23 January 2008
England Saxons head coach, Steve Bates, has named the players in contention for the first match against Ireland A at Welford Road next Friday, 1 February (kick off 7.45pm, live on Sky Sports).
Although most of the 27 players were named in the original England Saxons training squad, injuries to several Saxons and senior players have resulted in new call ups for Ben Skirving (Saracens), George Skivington (London Wasps), Harlequin Will Skinner and Newcastle Falcons’ James Grindal.
Said Bates, who will combine his Saxons role with his Newcastle Falcons coaching duties, “This is a tremendously exciting squad and certainly one that the other coaches (Graham Rowntree and Simon Hardy) and I are really looking forward to working with.
“England Saxons is about winning. But we aim to do that by playing a dynamic style of rugby that gives the players a chance to show what they can do and stake a claim for the senior side.
“Having lost a few players to injury, and with the possibility that others may be called up to the senior squad to cover for their injuries, we’ve chosen to train with 27 players to make sure we have all our bases fully covered.”
The squad will assemble for a training camp at Loughborough University next Monday (28 January). The team to play Ireland A on 1 February will be announced at 9am on Wednesday 30 January and will be followed later that day by an open training session and media interview access (see details below).
England Saxons training squad for Ireland A
Forwards
Jordan Crane - Leicester Tigers
Phil Dowson – Newcastle Falcons
Dylan Hartley - Northampton Saints
Jason Hobson - Bristol Rugby
Nick Kennedy - London Irish
Michael Lipman - Bath Rugby
Magnus Lund - Sale Sharks
Luke Narraway - Gloucester Rugby
David Paice - London Irish
Tom Palmer - London Wasps
Will Skinner - Harlequins
Ben Skirving - Saracens
George Skivington – London Wasps
David Wilson - Newcastle Falcons
Nick Wood - Gloucester Rugby
Ben Woods – Newcastle Falcons
Backs
Nick Abendanon - Bath Rugby
Anthony Allen - Gloucester Rugby
Delon Armitage – London Irish
Mike Brown - Harlequins
Lee Dickson - Newcastle Falcons
Shane Geraghty - London Irish
James Grindal – Newcastle Falcons
Paul Hodgson - London Irish
Ryan Lamb - Gloucester Rugby
James Simpson-Daniel - Gloucester Rugby
Tom Varndell - Leicester Tigers
Not considered due to injury:
Alex Brown (Gloucester Rugby)
Danny Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)
Ollie Smith (Leicester Tigers)
Full player and management profiles and headshots are available from www.rfu.com/profiles. For further information on fixtures and previous results please go to www.rfu.com/saxons.
The England Saxons will play two fixtures against Ireland A at Welford Road on Friday 1 February (kick off 7.45pm, live on Sky Sports) and Italy A at Stadio Aldo Campo, Ragusa, Sicily on Saturday 9 February (kick off 6.15pm local time).
