Martin Johnson names England’s 45-man provisional 2011 Rugby World Cup Squad
England national rugby team’s head coach, Martin Johnson, has announced the 45-man squad for their 2011 Rugby World Cup preparations. Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) website confirmed the announcement of the squad on Monday, June 20.
The 45-man squad will go through different training sessions related to players’ physical fitness, development, stamina, technique and tactics. The squad includes all the players who have played for the England in the 2011 RBS Six Nations championship.
Besides the Six Nations veterans, Johnson has named players from the England Saxons’ squad who retained the 2011 Churchill Cup last weekend. The most notable players from Saxons’ squad include Matt Stevens and Mouritz Botha from the Saracens and Gloucester’s
winger Charlie Sharples.
England will announce their final 30-man squad after their pre-World Cup warm-up matches in August. Commenting on the occasion, Johnson said, “Every one of these players has the chance to be in that final 30 going to New Zealand. The camp is going to be
intense and competitive, as you would expect leading up to a World Cup, but all the players are ready for it.”
Johnson has continued the RFU’s recent trend of relying on a mixture of youth and experience. Johnson further added, “We have guys such as Lewis Moody, Jonny Wilkinson and Mike Tindall who have been in this situation before but also a lot of players who
won’t have experienced a World Cup training camp. It’s now up to all of them to set down their marker over the next 10 weeks before we head to New Zealand.”
Leicester Tiger’s Manusamoa Tuilagi who won the 2010/11 Aviva Premiership Young Player of year award has also been included in the provisional side.
Additionally, Johnson has also included the impressive youngster from the 2010/11 Premiership winners Saracens, Richard Wigglesworth, and Leicester Tigers Thomas Waldrom who earlier won the Rugby Players’ Association Player of the Year Award.
The England's 45-man squad for 2011 Rugby World Cup training squad –
Forwards: Mouritz Botha (Saracens), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Paul Doran-Jones (Northampton Saints), Nick
Easter (Harlequins), Hendre Fourie (Sale Sharks), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Unattached), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Lee Mears (Bath Rugby), Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Tim Payne (London Wasps),
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Simon Shaw (London Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Steve Thompson (London Wasps), Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers), David Wilson (Bath Rugby), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), Joe Worsley (London Wasps).
Backs: Delon Armitage (London Irish), Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), Danny Care (Harlequins), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), Riki Flutey (London Wasps), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints),
Shontayne Hape (London Irish), Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby), Joe Simpson (London Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby), David Strettle (Saracens), Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby), Manusamoa
Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
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