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*denotes uncapped players
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THERE are 15 changes to the August 2011 England Elite Player Squad, including first time call-ups for Saracens centres Brad Barritt and Owen Farrell, Northampton Saints’ Lee Dickson and Calum Clark, and Scarlets’ Ben Morgan.
Ten changes are allowed in a Rugby World Cup year over and above international retirements (Lewis Moody, Jonny Wilkinson, Steve Thompson) and long-term injuries (Andrew Sheridan and Richard Wigglesworth).
The squad will meet for their pre-RBS 6 Nations training camp on Monday, January 23, and use facilities around the North Leeds area, including West Park Leeds RUFC and weights facilities at the Leeds Rugby Academy at Kirkstall.
Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We are very excited by the make-up of the two squads. Lots of players have been putting their hands up and there were some tough calls to make. However,in line with the selection philosophy about starting new era for English rugby,we have taken the chance to make changes and give players opportunities to be part of the journey towards 2015. We very much see this as a group of 64, with opportunities for the Saxons playing in the forthcoming A internationals to come into the senior squad at any time.
“We have lost some great players who have worn the England shirt with pride and distinction – Lewis, Steve and Jonny – and we should thank them for all they did. Others haven’t been selected for this EPS cycle and I have met them and explained the reasons why as we look for the next player to step up in that position to take us forward.
“We are looking both at the present and just as importantly the future. We wanted to get the right balance in potential and experience and giving us the flexibility to play in different ways. We need to use the upcoming games to build the collective experience and we are confident we have got the right mix to take England forward into this Six Nations and beyond.”
ENGLAND ELITE PLAYER SQUAD
FORWARDS |
BACKS |
Mouritz Botha (Saracens) |
Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints) |
†Dave Attwood, Alex Goode, Geoff Parling and Henry Trinder will join the squad from the Saxons as temporary replacements for Courtney Lawes (knee), Toby Flood (knee), Louis Deacon (hamstring) and Manusamoa Tuilagi (hamstring).
†Luke Narraway moves up from the Saxons to temporarily replace Tom Wood.
†Thomas Waldrom & Matt Banahan take over from Luke Narraway (calf) and Henry Trinder (ankle).
†Karl Dickson comes in as injury cover from the Saxons for younger brother Lee, who fractured a metacarpal in his left hand during Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match.
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WESLEY FOFANA and Yoann Maestri are in line to make their international debuts after being for France's RBS 6 Nations squad by new head coach Philippe Saint-André.
Clermont centre Fofana has impressed both domestically and in Europe and could start alongside club colleague Aurélien Rougerie while Toulouse’s 23-year-old man mountain Maestri is one of four second rows named.
There is also room for several returning players, with Lionel Beauxis coming back in after a three-year absence at fly-half and Clermont prop Vincent Debaty hoping to add to his one French cap won back in 2006.
Yannick Nyanga also returns in the back row after his stunning start to the season, as does his Toulouse colleague Yann David.
In the back three Clément Poitrenaud and Julien Malzieu are the other players who didn’t feature in France’s World Cup campaign.
In-form Florian Fritz was surprisingly omitted, and there appeared to be no room for second row Lionel Nallet whose career appeared to be over, until Romain Millo-Chluski was ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Mathieu Bastareaud, who Saint-André signed for Toulon before taking over the France job, also misses out and has not featured since Les Bleus claimed the Grand Slam in Paris back in 2010.
France will kick off their campaign at home to Italy on the 4th February hoping to avenge last year’s shock 22-21 defeat in Rome.
FRANCE SQUAD
FORWARDS |
BACKS |
Vincent Debaty (Clermont) |
Morgan Parra (Clermont)
|
†Lionel Nallet replaces injured Romain Millo-Chluski
For detailed analysis of France in the Six Nations and the players...
THE Ireland team management announced squads for both the senior Ireland team and the upcoming O2 Ireland Wolfhounds game as preparations begin for the 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship.
There are 24 players named in the Ireland senior squad, with six additional up and coming players named who will join the first week of Ireland camp in Limerick to train with the squad.
The 22 man O2 Ireland Wolfhounds squad includes several uncapped players as well as full internationals. The Ireland squad, from which the team to play Wales will be selected, will be announced on Monday 30th January after the Wolfhounds game against the England Saxons.
Commenting on the announcement, Ireland Coach Declan Kidney said, “The Wolfhounds game gives myself and the other coaches one final chance to give games to players to see possible options before we settle on our match day 22 for the opening game. It also gives us the opportunity to have a closer look in training at some of the younger players, rather than bringing in more experienced players, who are very much still in the frame for selection.
“There have been some strong performances by players with the Provinces going really well. It always gives the squad a good boost when we have teams with players playing well in Europe before we step back up into the international scene.”
Talking about the start of the RBS 6 Nations Championship, Kidney said, “It’s a new tournament for us and for everybody involved, so irrespective of the highs and lows of the World Cup, it is a fresh and exciting challenge for us. The tournament begins what is big year for us, with a three test tour to New Zealand to come in June and ranking points all important for the Rugby World Cup in 2015, but the Six Nations always stands out as high point.”
IRELAND SQUAD
FORWARDS |
BACKS |
Rory Best (Ulster) |
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys) |
Not considered due to injury: Brian O’Driscoll, David Wallace, Darren Cave, Felix Jones, Jerry Flannery, Eoin Griffen*, Denis Leamy, Niall Ronan, Luke Fitzgerald
O2 Ireland Wolfhounds
BACKS: Stephen Archer*, Chris Henry, Ronan Loughney*, Mike McCarthy, Kevin McLaughlin, John Muldoon, Rhys Ruddock, Mike Sherry*, Nevin Spence*, Devin Toner, Dan Touhy, Damien Varley, Brett Wilkinson*
FORWARDS: Isaac Boss, Gavin Duffy, Denis Hurley, David Kearney*, Ian Keatley, Ian Madigan*, Tomas O'Leary, Eoin O'Malley*, Simon Zebo*
For detailed analysis of Ireland in the Six Nations and the players...
ITALY head coach Jacques Brunel named today Italy’s 30-man squad ahead of RBS 6 Nations’ 2012 first two rounds.
Italy will face France in the Championship opener in Paris at the Stade de France on February 4th and play, one week later against 6 Nations reigning champions England in the impressive venue of Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Brunel, who will make his debut as Italy’s head-coach in a match against his home country, France, confirmed twenty-two players from Italy’s 30-man squad for RWC 2011, naming four uncapped players - three of them coming from the Union’s Academies for the development of young players – in the squad that will assemble in Rome on Sunday, January 22nd.
The four uncapped players are 25-year-old prop from Aironi Alberto De Marchi, who was part of the training squad for RWC 2011; 21-year-old centre Luca Morisi from Crociati who missed “Italy 2011” Junior World Championship due to injury, 22-year-old Aironi winger Giovambattista Venditti and 18-year-old winger Angelo Esposito who emerged from the U18 North-East Academy to win his Italy “A” debut in June against Tonga in the Churchill Cup Plate Final.
ITALY SQUAD
FORWARDS |
BACKS |
Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers) |
Edoardo Gori (Benetton Treviso)
|
For detailed analysis of Italy in the Six Nations and the players...
HEAD coach Andy Robinson selected six uncapped players in Scotland’s 36-man squad for the 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship.
They are Lee Jones, the 23-year-old Edinburgh Rugby wing; Stuart Hogg, the 19-year-old Glasgow Warriors full-back; his team-mates, stand-off Duncan Weir, 20 and flanker/lock Robert Harley, 21; Sale Sharks’ former Edinburgh and Dunfermline flanker/lock, 23-year-old Fraser McKenzie; and 20-year-old London Irish centre Steven Shingler.
All 28 available players from last year’s Rugby World Cup squad are included – Chris Paterson and Nathan Hines have now retired – while potential Six Nations debuts could lie ahead for the Edinburgh duo, Greig Laidlaw and David Denton, both of whom have been capped in the EMC Test windows.
Jones, a product of Selkirk has graduated from both Scotland 7s and Scotland A team and has scored six tries in 28 appearances for Edinburgh since making his debut in a pre-season friendly against London Irish in 2010.
Hogg – whose father John was a championship winning full-back and top-notch referee from Hawick, and brother Graham played both age-grade and 7s for Scotland – has won promotion from the Scotland under-20 squad.
Weir is currently the top-scorer in the RaboDirect PRO 12 league (145 points) and has represented Scotland at A, 7s and age-grade levels, while both Harley and McKenzie have been part of Scotland squads in the recent past and made a considerable impact in the Scotland A team.
Shingler, born in Swansea and who joined London Irish from Scarlets at the start of this season, qualifies for Scotland through his Dumfries born mum, Jeanette.
“I would be massively proud to play for Scotland. My upbringing from my mother means I’ve always known about Scotland. I’ve got my gran, auntie, two uncles and two cousins in Langholm and other than the past year I’ve been up 15 years on the bounce to see them around the time of the Common Riding and I’ve competed in the Games as well.”
Robinson said: “I am pleased to reflect on the winning displays we have seen from both Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors over the last two months and the contribution a number of our uncapped players have made to them.
“We said after the Rugby World Cup that the challenge the Scotland squad must confront is to get on with the business of winning international rugby matches. Potential counts for nothing if you don’t deliver results.”
The squad will gather at St Andrews on the week beginning Monday 23 January before it is trimmed for match specific preparations for Scotland’s opening game of the championship against England at Murrayfield on Saturday 4 February.
SCOTLAND SQUAD
FORWARDS |
BACKS |
John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) |
Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby)
|
†Ed Kalman replaces Moray Low temporarily out with injury
†Phil Godman replaces Ruaridh Jackson temporarily out with injury
†Tom Ryder replaces Fraser McKenzie temporarily out with injury
For detailed analysis of Scotland in the Six Nations and the players...
WARREN GATLAND has announced the 35-man Wales squad, captained by Sam Warburton, travelling to Gdańsk, Poland for the 2012 RBS 6 Nations training camp.
The Wales head coach has stuck with the majority of his Rugby World Cup side, adding just four players who did not feature in either his extended 45-man pre-RWC training squad or the December international against Australia at the Millennium Stadium at the start of this season.
Saracens prop Rhys Gill, uncapped Ospreys pair Ashley Beck and Rhys Webb and young Blues wing Harry Robinson are the only players in the squad who have not been in the international selector’s plans this season so far, with Gill earning his only international cap two years ago as a 2010 RBS 6 Nations replacement against Ireland.
Robinson, Webb, Beck, Scarlets prop Rhodri Jones and colleague Liam Williams – who both featured in the training squad which faced the Wallabies last month – and Scarlets lock Lou Reed (lock) are the only uncapped players selected.
The squad will be reduced again after Wales return from an intense 7-day period at the specialist training camp which utilises cryotherapy chambers to improve recovery and allow players to cram more training sessions into a given day.
But Gatland is confident he has the right blend of youth, talent and experience to mount a highly credible challenge on the 2012 RBS 6 Nations title next month, which begins with a Celtic double header against Ireland, away, and Scotland, at home at the Millennium Stadium, on the first two weekends in February.
Three players – Mitchell, Gill and Sale Sharks back row Andy Powell – join the squad from English clubs and Wales have also called upon the services of France based trio James Hook, Mike Phillips and Lee Byrne, with all six available to Wales for a reduced amount of time on the camp (3 days), the maximum stipulated by IRB regulations.
“We have had to strike a balance with this squad, the majority are those players who excelled for Wales during the Rugby World Cup, but are also taking the opportunity to look at one or two youngsters before probably cutting our numbers even further before the start of the RBS 6 Nations,” said Gatland.
“We have kept a couple of older heads and we have injuries, with Alun Wyn Jones, Josh Turnbull, Rob McCusker and Luke Charteris all unavailable to us, but the emphasis on development and planning for the future is there for everyone to see.
“These are exciting times for Welsh rugby, we showed a huge amount of potential at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and we will be working as hard as humanly possible to ensure that we reach our potential in this year’s 6 Nations championship.”
WALES SQUAD
FORWARDS |
BACKS |
Craig Mitchell (Exeter Chiefs) |
Mike Phillips (Bayonne)
|
†Stephen Jones covers for James Hook while he is playing for Perpignan
†Alun Wyn Jones replaces suspended Bradley Davies, while Richard Hibbard comes in as cover for Hugh Bennett and Matthew Rees
For detailed analysis of Wales in the Six Nations and the players...
