England
England name 24-man squad to face Barbarians
ESPN Staff
May 24, 2015
Stuart Lancaster
Stuart Lancaster© GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images

England head coach Stuart Lancaster has named 10 players from his World Cup training squad to face the Barbarians at Twickenham on May 31, with the likes of Danny Cipriani and Marland Yarde given a chance to impress.

Northampton's Lee Dickson will captain England when they host the Baa Baas next week, while Elliot Daly, Joe Launchbury, Henry Slade and Christian Wade have all been included in the 24-man squad. Exeter's Dave Ewers has not been considered due to concussion.

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."

Players from both Saracens and Bath, who will contest the Aviva Premiership final 24 hours beforehand, have not been considered for selection. Similarly, players from Gloucester have not been selected after they beat Connacht on Sunday to reach the European Rugby Champions Cup play-off final.

Former England wing Ugo Monye will feature for the Barbarians in what will be his final match before retirement, while World Cup winner Brad Thorne, Alex Cuthbert, Adam Jones and Toulon's David Smith have all been included by head coach Robbie Deans.

England squad to face Barbarians:

Backs: Will Chudley (Exeter Chiefs), Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints) captain, Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Alex Lewington (London Irish), Mathew Tait (Leicester Tigers), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Christian Wade (Wasps), Marland Yarde (Harlequins)

Forwards: Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks), Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons), Jack Clifford (Harlequins), Jake Cooper-Woolley (Wasps), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), Gareth Denman (Northampton Saints), Jon Fisher (Northampton Saints), James Gaskell (Wasps), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers), Tommy Taylor (Sale Sharks), Alex Waller (Northampton Saints), Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)

© ESPN Staff

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