English Rugby
Cipriani misses out on England squad
Scrum.com
May 19, 2009
Leicester's Sam Vesty chips through the London Irish defence, Leicester Tigers v London Irish, Guinness Premiership Final, Twickenham, England, May 16, 2009
Leicester's Sam Vesty has been named in the England squad after helping the Tigers to Premiership glory © Getty Images
Enlarge

England manager Martin Johnson has named a 34-man squad to face the Barbarians and Argentina in a two-Test series, and as expected there is no place in the senior squad for Wasps fly-half Danny Cipriani. Cipriani, who is on standby for the British and Irish Lions, has been named in the England Saxons squad to contest this year's Churchill Cup.

Cipriani has been leapfrogged in the pecking order by two of the six uncapped players named in the squad, Leicester's in-form Sam Vesty and the Toulon-bound Tom May. The other uncapped players are Newcastle prop David Wilson, Harlequins duo Jordan Turner-Hall and Chris Robshaw and Gloucester's Nick Wood.

The squad sees a return to action for 2003 World-Cup winning hooker Steve Thompson, now playing for Brive in France, and Leicester lock Ben Kay. The squad will be skippered by Saracens' Steve Borthwick for the games against the Barbarians at Twickenham on May 30 and against Argentina at Old Trafford on June 6 and in Salta on June 13. Johnson confirmed however that not all players would travel to Argentina, with a decision expected following the Barbarians game and Heineken Cup final.

"This is a very strong squad full of a mixture of experience and young talent," said Johnson." I'm sure that any of the uncapped players will take the step up from the Saxons to the senior Test arena if they are given the opportunity. I'm looking forward to all the games and the three day training camp this week, which will give us further invaluable time with the squad."

England Summer tour squad:

Forwards: Steffon Armitage (London Irish), Steve Borthwick (Saracens - capt), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (London Wasps), Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers) , Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers), Tim Payne (London Wasps), Tom Rees (London Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Steve Thompson (CA Brive), Julian White (Leicester Tigers), David Wilson (Newcastle Falcons), Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)

Backs: Delon Armitage (London Irish), Danny Care (Harlequins, Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Andy Goode (CA Brive), Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers), Paul Hodgson (London Irish) , Tom May (Newcastle Falcons), Olly Morgan (Gloucester Rugby), Jamie Noon (Newcastle Falcons), David Strettle (Harlequins), Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks), Sam Vesty (Leicester Tigers), Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks)

England Saxons Churchill Cup Squad:

Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbiserio (London Irish), Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons), David Flatman (Bath Rugby), Tom Guest (Harlequins), Stuart Hooper (Bath Rugby), Chris Jones (Sale Sharks), Tom Mercey (Saracens), Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby), Dean Schofield (Sale Sharks), Peter Short (Bath Rugby), Joe Ward (London Wasps), Rob Webber (London Wasps), Ben Woods (Leicester Tigers)

Backs: Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby), Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Noah Cato (Saracens), Danny Cipriani (London Wasps), Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Alex Goode (Saracens) , Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints), Joe Simpson (London Wasps), Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps), Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons)

© Scrum.com

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.