England head coach Stuart Lancaster has called up 18 players from Harlequins and Leicester Tigers to the England training squad that is preparing for the tour to New Zealand and the match against the Barbarians after the two clubs completed their domestic seasons.
The players will arrive at the Lensbury Club from Wednesday evening along with Sale Sharks’ James Gaskell and Ross Harrison. Bath Rugby’s Rob Webber joined the squad last night.
Further players will be added from Bath Rugby and London Wasps following the conclusion of the Amlin Challenge Cup final (23 May) and the European Rugby Champions Cup play-off second leg (May 24) with a further group from Saracens and Northampton Saints joining the tour party and the Aviva Premiership final (31 May).
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The final squads for the New Zealand tour and the Barbarians match will be announced at 12:00 BST on Monday 26 May.
England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said,”Following the Aviva Premiership semi-finals we are keen to give the players from Harlequins and Leicester some time away before joining camp and will look to bring them in towards the end of the week. ”
“We’ve brought Rob Webber in for further assessment and treatment in order to give him the best possible chance of making the tour to New Zealand. James Gaskell and Ross Harrison are rewarded for their development this season and will be joining up in due course in order to prepare for the Barbarians game.
“We’ll train today and tomorrow and have a larger group for Thursday and Friday. Then, following an assessment of the weekend’s games (Amlin Challenge Cup final, European Rugby Champions Cup play-off second leg and the Heineken Cup final) we will meet and narrow down selection for the Barbarians and New Zealand tour and announce both squads on Monday.”
The first group of players will fly to New Zealand on 27 May (arriving 29 May) and the second group will fly on 2 June following the Aviva Premiership final and Barbarians game and join the squad in Auckland on 4 June.
England Training Squad:
Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Rob Buchanan (Harlequins)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Will Collier (Harlequins)
Jamie Gibson (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Gray (Harlequins)
Graham Kitchener (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Charlie Matthews (Harlequins)
Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Luke Wallace (Harlequins)
Dave Ward (Harlequins)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)