Former Hurricanes and Crusaders No 8 Thomas Waldrom has made the first cut in his quest to help England win the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.Waldrom, nicknamed the ‘Tank Engine’ for his exploits in a standout Super Rugby career, has been making headlines since joining the Leicester Tigers in England’s Premiership.

He was recently named England’s players’ association’s player of the year.

Waldrom has been included in a 45-strong preliminary training squad announced by head coach Martin Johnson. They will be put through their paces ahead of the World Cup before Johnson whittles them down to the 30 that will travel to New Zealand.

All of the 2011 RBS 6 Nations squad are included, while there are call-ups for Matt Stevens and Mouritz Botha of Saracens and Gloucester wing Charlie Sharples, all of whom helped England Saxons retain the Churchill Cup against Canada on Saturday.

There is also a place for Manusamoa Tuilagi – the Premiership’s Young Player of the Year – as well as Richard Wigglesworth from champions Saracens.

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.

“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.”

England preliminary 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 (Harelquins)
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 (Harelequins)
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)

The final 30-man squad will be announced on Monday, August 22.