Cipriani still out in cold as Wilkinson keeps England place
Jonny Wilkinson (right) is in the England elite squad, which doesn't include Danny Cipriani (left)
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Tuesday, 07, Jul 2009 09:59
Fly-half Jonny Wilkinson has been named in the 32-man England elite squad but there is no place for Wasps starlet Danny Cipriani, who remains in the Saxons.
Head coach Martin Johnson announced his latest squad today, and gave no respite to Cipriani - who has been left on the sidelines since the former World Cup winner took charge.
However, Wilkinson is included in the elite squad - proving that his frequent injury problems and, perhaps more significantly, his recent move from Newcastle to French club Toulon, has not caused his stock to fall with Johnson.
Other notable inclusions in the elite squad include Bath duo David Wilson and Matt Banahan, both the Armitage brothers Delon and Steffon and Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care.
British and Irish Lions selections Tom Croft, Lee Mears, Simon Shaw, Andrew Sheridan, Phil Vickery, Joe Worsley, Ugo Monye, Harry Ellis and Riki Flutey are all included.
"Selection for the two squads has been very difficult because there is a greater strength in depth of players to choose from now than we had 12 months ago," said Johnson.
"The England players on the British and Irish Lions tour have played exceptionally well and this has allowed us to look at other players in the two matches against Argentina and in the Churchill Cup."
He added: "Our selections include players based in France and [director of elite rugby] Rob Andrew and I have had extensive discussions with the French clubs, who have recruited English players and these have gone well.
"We are looking forward to continuing the positive working relationship with them, which worked so well last season."
Meanwhile, the Saxons setup features a number of full caps, including forwards Lewis Moody, Nick Kennedy and Luke Narraway and backs Paul Sackey, Ben Foden and David Strettle, along with Cipriani.
But Johnson said he expects there to be some fluidity between the two squads.
"There is strong competition for places within both of the squads but there will also be opportunities, as there were last year for movement between the seniors and the Saxons and for players to come in from outside the 64 because of injury, retirement or suspension," he continued.
"Delon Armitage and Mark Cueto are good examples of the latter and Ugo Monye and Joe Worsley have earned Lions caps after being originally selected in the Saxons.
"We will continue to monitor the form and fitness of the following players who were involved with England last season with a view to inviting them to training sessions as appropriate - Andy Goode, James Haskell, Tom May, Jamie Noon, Tom Palmer and Steve Thompson."
Both squads will meet on Sunday August 9th for their pre-season training camp, which will run until Friday August 14th.
ENGLAND ELITE PLAYER SQUAD:
Forwards (18)
Steffon Armitage (London Irish)
Steve Borthwick (Saracens)
George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)
Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers)
Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
Tim Payne (London Wasps)
Tom Rees (London Wasps)
Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
Phil Vickery (London Wasps)
Julian White (Leicester Tigers)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
Backs (14)
Delon Armitage (London Irish)
Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Riki Flutey (CA Brive)
Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)
Paul Hodgson (London Irish)
Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
Olly Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)
Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
ENGLAND SAXONS SQUAD:
Forwards (17)
Richard Blaze (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
Nick Kennedy (London Irish)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Matthew Mullan (Worcester Warriors)
Tom Mercey (Saracens)
Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers)
Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
David Paice (London Irish)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Will Skinner (Harlequins)
George Skivington (London Wasps)
Dan Ward-Smith (London Wasps)
Rob Webber (London Wasps)
Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)
Ben Woods (Leicester Tigers)
Backs (15)
Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Danny Cipriani (London Wasps)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints)
Topsy Ojo (London Irish)
Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
Paul Sackey (London Wasps)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
David Strettle (Harlequins)
Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
Sam Vesty (Leicester Tigers)
Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)
Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks)
Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons)