Joe Launchbury to make first England appearance in a year
Friday 29 May 2015 13:53, UK
Joe Launchbury will make his first England appearance in a year against the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday.
The Wasps second row only returned to action this month after being out since October with a neck injury.
The England team contains 10 players who were named this month in a 45-man World Cup training squad, including Sale fly-half Danny Cipriani and highly-rated Wasps centre Elliot Daly.
Northampton scrum-half Lee Dickson captains the side while Leicester full-back Mathew Tait plays his first international since 2010 as players on the fringes of Stuart Lancaster's squad get a chance to stake their claim.
This is an exciting group of players who will be eager to impress in an England shirt with a number of guys having one eye on the World Cup in September
England coach Lancaster said: “We’ve had a short but very good week in camp and the players have worked hard. I’ve been extremely happy with the way they have gone about their training and prep off the field.
“This is an exciting group of players who will be eager to impress in an England shirt with a number of guys having one eye on the World Cup in September.
“We know the Barbarians have a large number of experienced international guys and they will be ready for us having played Ireland last night. We are expecting a tough encounter.”
The Barbarians beat Ireland 22-21 in a bad-tempered encounter in Limerick on Thursday night.
Live Rugby Union
England: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Lee Dickson (captain), 1 Matt Mullan, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Kieran Brookes, 4 Ed Slater, 5 Joe Launchbury, 6 Mark Wilson, 7 Jack Clifford, 8 Josh Beaumont.
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.
Watch England v Barbarians on Sky Sports 3 from 14.30 on Sunday
