Six Nations: England call Danny Cipriani and Nick Easter into training squad
Thursday 22 January 2015 08:47, UK
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has called fly-half Danny Cipriani and No 8 Nick Easter into a 34-man training squad ahead of the Six Nations.
Sale star Cipriani, 27, impressed when deputising for the injured Owen Farrell during the summer tour of New Zealand only to be left out of the autumn internationals, which saw Bath youngster George Ford stake a claim to be England's first-choice stand-off.
Cipriani said: "I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to join up with the squad next week and look forward to training with them and developing my game.
"It’s a great chance for me to prove myself and hopefully get a chance to represent my country again. I would like to thank everyone at Sale Sharks for helping me make this happen."
Lancaster has named four fly-halves in the squad, with Cipriani set to compete with Ford, Farrell and Northampton's Stephen Myler.
Easter has not played for England since the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he started the 19-12 quarter-final defeat to France in Auckland, but has continued to shine for Harlequins despite their indifferent form this term and benefits from injury to England incumbent Ben Morgan who suffered a broken leg earlier this month.
Elsewhere in the squad, there is a place for Bath centre Jonathan Joseph, who was instrumental in Sunday's phenomenal 35-18 European Champions Cup victory in Toulouse. He is joined by club-mates Ford, Kyle Eastmond and Anthony Watson.
Prop Alex Corbisiero is immediately recalled having proved with his performances for Northampton that he has overcome a shoulder ligament tear and there are also places for Leicester locks Geoff Parling and Graham Kitchener in the wake of injuries to Courntey Lawes and Joe Launchbury.
Bath's cross-code recruit Sam Burgess, who missed the victory in Toulouse due to a slight injury, is named in the Saxons squad that will prepare to face Ireland Wolfounds on January 30.
Lancaster said: “Looking at both squads it’s obvious there is a lot of depth and competition in every position, which is what we want. Many players are putting their hand up in the Aviva Premiership and Europe and they have a chance to impress in training as we build towards the games against Wales and the Wolfhounds.
'Quality and experience'
“It’s great to welcome back some of those players unavailable for the QBE Internationals in the autumn. They offer us a lot of quality and experience. So too Nick Easter, who has played well for Harlequins and, with the injury to Ben Morgan, both he and Tom Waldrom in the Saxons will provide us with specialist No 8 options alongside Billy Vunipola. That’s something we feel we need going into the tournament.
We have plenty of players to consider and with some players still being assessed from last weekend after suffering knocks we have kept our options open.
“We have plenty of players to consider and with some players still being assessed from last weekend after suffering knocks we have kept our options open.
“It's a big European weekend ahead and there may be further changes once we assess the fitness of the players after round six and we will provide an update on Monday.
“We will use the four-day training camp and the Saxons game to narrow down selection as we lead into the opening game against Wales.
“The match against the Wolfhounds in Cork gives us a great opportunity to take a look at a group of players who are right on the edge of the senior squad and we also have the likes of David Strettle and Freddie Burns, who are very much in our thinking as options going forward.
“We will be without Joe Launchbury and Ben (Morgan) and it was a real shame to see Ben Foden pick up his injury up last weekend. We will continue to work with Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers with Courtney and Manu and see where they are as the Six Nations progresses.”
On the captaincy, Lancaster added: “Chris Robshaw will lead the team in the RBS 6 Nations. He has fully recovered from his shoulder injury and as we have seen over the last three years he is an outstanding captain who delivers consistently as a player and a leader.”
England kick off their Six Nations campaign when they face Wales at the Millennium Stadium on February 6.
England Senior Training Squad:
Forwards: D Attwood (Bath), C Clark (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), A Corbisiero (Northampton), N Easter (Harlequins), D Hartley (Northampton), J Haskell (Wasps), G Kitchener (Leicester), G Kruis (Saracens), J Marler
(Harlequins), G Parling (Leicester), C Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), B Vunipola, M Vunipola (both Saracens), D Wilson (Bath), T Wood (Northampton), T Youngs (Leicester).
Backs: B Barritt (Saracens), M Brown (Harlequins), L Burrell (Northampton), D Care (Harlequins), D Cipriani (Sale), K Eastmond (Bath), O Farrell (Saracens), G Ford (Bath), A Goode (Saracens), J Joseph (Bath), J May (Gloucester,), S Myler (Northampton), J Nowell (Exeter), B Twelvetrees (Gloucester), A Watson (Bath), R Wigglesworth (Saracens), B Youngs (Leicester).
England Saxons squad:
Forwards: K Brookes (Newcastle), T Croft (Leicester), C Day (Northampton), L Cowan-Dickie, D Ewers (both Exeter), M Garvey (Bath), R Harrison (Sale), M Itoje (Saracens), M Kvesic (Gloucester), M Mullan (Wasps), H Thomas (Bath), T Waldrom (Exeter), A Waller (Northampton), R Webber (Bath).
Backs: C Ashton (Saracens), S Burgess (Bath), E Daly (Wasps), O Devoto (Bath), L Dickson (Northampton, capt), J Simpson (Wasps), H Slade (Exeter), M Yarde (Harlequins), C Wade (Wasps).
