All eyes will be on Martin Johnson as the time draws ever closer for the release of England's 32-man elite player squad.
Rugby stars wait on Johnson's team sheet
It's all eyes will be on Martin Johnson as he prepares to announce England's 32-man elite player squad - with a number of players fighting it out for a place.
England's contingent with the British and Irish Lions will be hoping they remain in Johnson's thinking, while a two-Test series against Argentina and the Churchill Cup saw the remaining senior and Saxons players stake their claims.
Johnson will announce the squads for the EPS and the Saxons on Tuesday - and Leicester Tigers flanker Ben Woods is one of those eagerly awaiting the announcement.
The 27-year-old openside has given himself every chance of attaining that all-important call-up to the EPS side, after capping an excellent breakthrough season in the green and white of Leicester, as well as helping the England Saxons reach the final of the Churchill Cup.
Woods' achieved a lot in his first season at Leicester after moving to Welford Road from Newcastle, keeping fellow flanker Lewis Moody out of the Tigers line-up for both the semi-final and the final of the Guinness Premiership play-offs.
He also made big advances in the Saxons team starting all three of their games which had seen him transform into an England contender, whilst ending with a well-deserved rest after such a gruelling season.
Pleasure
"It is a pleasure to represent your country and it is an environment in which everyone wants to push themselves forward to bigger and better things," he told the
Leicester Mercury.
"It helped me because I had been playing regular rugby right up until the end of May and some of the guys in the Saxons squad had had a month without any competitive rugby when we got out there."
With 32 places up for grabs there are sure to be many a hand left out waiting to be snapped up, with the likes of Ben Foden and Nick Easter looking to reaffirm their positions in the side.
Chris Robshaw and Jordan Turner-Hall will also be pushing for inclusion after stand-out 2008-09 campaigns, while the evergreen Tom May and the powerhouse Matt Banahan impressed in the games against Argentina.
Andy Goode will also be looking a place in the squad as one of the many French-based players, while Nick Wood and David Wilson will be vying for places in the front-row.
