England Head coach Stuart Lancaster has named an unchanged 23-man squad for Saturday's Six Nations match against France.
Lancaster has sent 12 players back their clubs this evening, including Gloucester number eight Ben Morgan, who has not yet recovered from the ankle injury sustained in the tournament opener against Scotland.
Lancaster said there were some tough selection calls, but the players who achieved a first competitive win in Ireland since 2003 deserved the chance to continue their unbeaten start to the tournament.
"We've had 30 plus guys pushing hard for selection this week, which is what we want," he said.
"We had to make some close calls but the team did very well in Ireland so we've gone with the same squad against France.
"We are looking forward to getting back to Twickenham against what I am sure will be a highly motivated French team."
England squad to face France:
Backs: Chris Ashton (Saracens), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Leicester), Alex Goode (Saracens), David Strettle (Saracens), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Ben Youngs (Leicester).
Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), James Haskell (Wasps), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Billy Vunipola (Wasps), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Thomas Waldrom (Leicester), David Wilson (Bath), Tom Wood (Northampton), Tom Youngs (Leicester).
Comments
heart_of_oak says...
APV1 :-)))))
And as you've pointed out on many occasions, it's high time Varndell was selected. :-)
Posted 11:40 20th February 2013
TVaddict says...
There are 25 players in this squad of 23....
Billy Vunipola has an ankle injury meaning he's not playing. Strettle isn't in the team either.
Posted 10:29 20th February 2013
APV1 says...
I suspect we'll start exactly as we did last time, although the 12 - 13 combo is still up for grabs. MT had a decent enough game against Quins, but was shut down a lot. And I don't think we lose anything defensively if 36 is on there instead of him. BB is obviously going to start though.
Burns is injured, so we have to have Flood. No-one else is even close at the moment.
So then there's the wingers. As heart_of_oak rightly states, it really should be Biggs on the bench instead of Strettle. But perhaps melkdave's right and SL et al see something that we don't.
Waldrom is tried, tested and solid. Not as dynamic as Vunipola, but perhaps that's what we need against France.
England by 11.
Posted 10:24 20th February 2013
jestnation says...
Nice to see counting to 23 continues to be a challange for the PR team!!!
Posted 09:51 20th February 2013
jamesliveinhope says...
Suspect we may see Tuilagi, Hartley and possibly Lawes start this time. Not sure which of Barritt or 12T will drop to the bench but with Bastareud being the only French player to leave the field with any credit last time out we may want to insert a little steel into his channel. I reckon Barritt at 12 and Tuilagi at 13.
Posted 08:23 20th February 2013
Centre12 says...
There are two weak links in this Squad, Strettle & Waldrom, there are also a further two question marks over the heads of Ashton and Flood, once the first two are got rid of and replaced with the like of Varndell/Wade & Kesvic then we will certainly be on the right road. The latter two really do need to find some form!!!!!!
Posted 04:54 20th February 2013
melkdave says...
Would perfer to see Wade or Vandal instead of Sretttle if im honest.But im happy to trust SLand Co's judgement ,he must offer something i cant see,or perhaps its the way he interacts with the other players ,giving them confidance ect.Im sure Wade,Vandal and Sharples will get their chance this summer though.
Posted 23:35 19th February 2013
heart_of_oak says...
Thought you'd all appreciate a joke I heard today. It goes like this :
An almighty racket outside my window woke me up last night. Looking out I saw 4 Arsenal fans playing football with a cat. I went downstairs to stop it but just as I got outside, the cat went one nil up.
So there you have it chaps. To anyone who says they've heard it before, well I haven't.
I guess we'll see an unchanged starting line up vs the French.
Cole
Youngs
Marler
Launchberry
Parling
Haskell
Robshaw
Wood
Youngs
Farrell
Brown
12trees
Barritt
Handbags
Goode
Posted 22:22 19th February 2013
heart_of_oak says...
In the main, I'm ok with this squad. Don't see what Strettle and Waldrom add. You all know who I'd select in place of Strettle so I won't bore you with that. As some have said, I hope Billy Vunipola will get a stint on the pitch.
Posted 22:06 19th February 2013
stumpy says...
Glad its unchanged. Hoping B.Vunipola will get his chance over Waldrom. I know the history/form books go out the window against the French, but if the French play anything like they have been, then their defence is their only threat so an explosive number 8 such as Billy to break the line will be useful.
Posted 20:31 19th February 2013