Joe Launchbury and Ed Slater will resume their international careers by lining up for an England XV against the Barbarians today (Sunday).
The lock pairing will feature in a side captained by scrum-half Lee Dickson, and with Mathew Tait at fullback.
The squad features 10 players from Stuart Lancaster’s initial World Cup squad, including Danny Cipriani at No 10.
New Zealand’s World Cup-winning forward Brad Thorn skippers an experienced BaaBaas side at Twickenham.
Barbarians head coach Robbie Deans makes 11 changes to the invitation team that beat Ireland 22 / 21 at Thomond Park on Thursday night.
Leicester’s Thorn, 40, will form a 2nd-row partnership with Northampton’s departing lock Samu Manoa, while Australia centurion George Smith is at openside flanker.
And 14-cap England wing Ugo Monye lines up against his international team-mates.
For Launchbury and Slater, their inclusions mark their return to the England fold after missing much of this season through injury.
Wasps’ Launchbury, 24, missed 6 months of action with a neck problem, and 26-year-old Slater, whose international experience has been limited to midweek tour matches, damaged knee ligaments last year.
“This is an exciting group who will be eager to impress in an England shirt with a number of guys having 1 eye on the World Cup in September,” said Lancaster.
“We know the Barbarians have a large number of experienced guys and they will be ready for us having played Ireland. We are expecting a tough encounter.”
Teams
England XV: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Lee Dickson (Captain), 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Joe Launchbury, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Matt Mullan
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Alex Lewington
Barbarians: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 David Smith, 13 Joe Rokocoko, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 George Smith, 6 George Whitelock, 5 Brad Thorn (Captain), 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Matias Diaz, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Rodrigo Tejerizo, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Nathan Hines, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Stephen Brett, 23 Yoshikazu Fujita
Date: 31 May 2015
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-Off: 16:00 SA Time (15:00 BST, 14:00 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (England), Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Sean Davey (England)
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