England head coach has named his revised Senior and England Saxons Elite Player Squads with sevens changes to the senior squad.
rugbyweek
There are seven changes to the January 2012 senior squad, with call-ups for Leicester Tigers trio Anthony Allen, Geoff Parling and Thomas Waldrom, as well as Danny Care (Harlequins), Alex Goode (Saracens), Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs) and Jonathan Joseph (London Irish).
Twenty-six of the squad who toured South Africa are included, along with Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Rob Webber (Bath Rugby) and Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), who did not travel because of injury.
There are first appearances in the Saxons for George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors) and Christian Wade (London Wasps) – all from the 2011 Under-20s squad – as well as Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby) and Sale Sharks’ Rob Miller – top try scorer in the Aviva Premiership last season.
Lancaster said: “Congratulations to all those chosen for both squads. We spent a long time deciding on these 64 and there were some tough decisions to make. Selecting players at this stage gives us an early chance to sit down and assess the tour and look forward to next season.”
“However, experience tells us that form and fitness will play a major role in selection prior to the QBE Internationals in November and December and any of the players in the Senior and Saxons squads could easily be involved.
“We saw this in January when Geoff Parling came in as an injury replacement for Louis Deacon and has played every Test since – there is always movement which opens the door for players and I am sure next season will be no different.
“The great thing is that we have got competition across the board and strength in depth developing in many positions with players who will be around for the next few years. ”
“There are also some exciting players just on the cusp of the squads such as Tom Homer, Charlie Matthews, Tom Heathcote and Elliot Daly, who we are really looking forward to seeing develop in the next 12 months and beyond.”
The players from both squads will attend a training camp at Loughborough University between August 6 and 8 and Lancaster added: “It will be a rugby-focused few days, giving us the chance to review the South Africa tour and set our goals for next season and further.”
The 2012 England Under 20 EPS will be announced in September.
ENGLAND ELITE PLAYER SQUAD (32)
FORWARDS (17)
Mouritz Botha (Saracens)
Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Tom Palmer (London Wasps)
Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Matt Stevens (Saracens)
Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)
Rob Webber (Bath Rugby)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
BACKS (15)
Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Ashton (Saracens)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Jonathan Joseph (London Irish)
Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby)
Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
ENGLAND SAXONS EPS (32)
FORWARDS (18)
Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby)
Calum Clark (Northampton Saints)
Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
Paul Doran Jones (Northampton Saints)
Carl Fearns (Bath Rugby)
James Gaskell (Sale Sharks)
Jamie Gibson (London Irish)
Joe Gray (Harlequins)
James Haskell (London Wasps)
Graham Kitchener (Leicester Tigers)
Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors)
Joe Launchbury (London Wasps)
Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors)
David Paice (London Irish)
George Robson (Harlequins)
Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
BACKS (14)
Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
Miles Benjamin (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Biggs (Bath Rugby)
Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
George Lowe (Harlequins)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Rob Miller (Sale Sharks)
Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
David Strettle (Saracens)
Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)
Christian Wade (London Wasps)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)