The following players will return to Pennyhill Park on Wednesday evening to train with England ahead of Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations match against Scotland at Murrayfield. Forwards  (13) Mouritz Botha (Saracens) Alex Corbisiero (London Irish) Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers) Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers) Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints) Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) Joe Marler (Harlequins) Ben Morgan (Scarlets) Tom Palmer (Stade Francais) Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers) Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) Matt Stevens (Saracens) Rob Webber (London Wasps) Backs (11) Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints) Brad Barritt (Saracens) Mike Brown (Harlequins) Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints) Owen Farrell (Saracens) Ben Foden (Northampton Saints) Charlie Hodgson (Saracens) Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby) David Strettle (Saracens) Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins) Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) The following players will return to their Aviva Premiership clubs this evening and be available for the weekend’s LV= Cup Round 4 matches. Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby) Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby) Calum Clark (Northampton Saints) Alex Goode (Saracens) Lee Mears (Bath Rugby) Joe Simpson (London Wasps) Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers) David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
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The Sale Sharks v Scarlets game in the LV Cup will now kick off at 3pm on Saturday afternoon. The game was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday evening but as the temperatures are due to fall as the week goes on, the kick off time has been changed. Sale Sharks Head of Media Dave Swanton explained, “ Nigel Felton is bringing his hot air system to the ground today and the pitch will be covered until just before kick off time. Nigel advised that a late kick off may cause problems in that the pitch could become unplayable as the temperatures fall. With the safety of the players in mind we highlighted this to the RFU who contacted the broadcasters and the kick off time change was agreed. The game will now be screened on delayed transmission.” Swanton added, “ We would like to thank the RFU, Premiership Rugby, Scarlets and S4C for the help in changing the kick off time.”
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England Saxons have called Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors), Jonathan Joseph (London Irish) and David Seymour (Sale Sharks) into their squad to face Scotland A on Friday (Galashiels, 7pm). The Saxons go into the game at Netherdale on the back of a 23-17 win over the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds at Exeter secured by tries from Leicester Tigers No.8 Thomas Waldrom and Saracens scrum half Ben Spencer, and 13 points from Gloucester Rugby fly half Freddie Burns. Flanker Seymour, 27, and centre Joseph, 20, take over from Waldrom and Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), who have been added to the senior squad training for the opening match of the RBS 6 Nations at Murrayfield. Benjamin, 23, replaces Delon Armitage (London Irish) following the latter’s suspension from the Saxons Elite Player Squad. The Worcester wing scored five tries in two Churchill Cup appearances against the USA and Canada last summer. Saxons coach Jon Callard said: “Dave Seymour’s been playing very well for Sale and captaining the side too while Miles played a big role last summer. I’m sure he was disappointed not to be part of the Saxons EPS and this is a great opportunity for him to show what he can do....
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Delon Armitage has been suspended from the England Saxons Elite Player Squad following his detention by Devon & Cornwall Police early on January 29. The London Irish full back was released from the England Saxons camp following the international match against the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds on January 28. He was later arrested in Torquay on suspicion of assault following an altercation in a nightclub, interviewed and then released on police bail while inquiries continue. England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We take issues surrounding the behaviour of England players very seriously and as such have decided to suspend Delon from the Saxons EPS pending the result of the police inquiry. We will then consider if further action is appropriate under the EPS Code of Conduct. “High standards of behaviour are required from England players on and off the field, and they also need to understand that they should not put themselves in a potentially vulnerable position or environment.” London Irish said in a statement: “London Irish is extremely disappointed to hear about the incident involving Delon whilst on an England Saxons release period and takes these matters extremely seriously. We fully understand the RFU stance on this matter and...
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Chris Robshaw was today named England captain. The Harlequins skipper will lead England into the RBS 6 Nations match against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. "It’s a huge honour and a very proud day – hopefully one that will live in my memory for a long time to come. Thanks to everyone who has helped me, especially Quins," said Robshaw. "There’s lots of other leaders in the group and they have been great since we met up. It’s not about myself because there are six or seven guys around me who all have a massive role to play, whether that’s bossing scrums, line-outs, attack, defence…Stuart (Lancaster), Graham (Rowntree) and Andy (Farrell) have given us the game plan and it’s up to us to get it across to the other players to drive the standards and the squad forward in the right way." England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We have a strong leadership group and I have been very impressed with the way they have all stepped up so far. Chris is a key member of that group and has shown with Harlequins and when I have worked with him in the Saxons that he can lead a team...
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Teenager Ben Spencer and No.8 Thomas Waldrom both scored on debut as England Saxons opened the 2012 international campaign with a 23-17 win over the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds at Exeter. Saracens scrum half Spencer – the youngest man in the team – darted over from close range after just 10 minutes to settle his early nerves and Waldrom retrieved Freddie Burns’s deflected chip through the Wolfhounds’ defence mid-way through the second half. Burns added two conversions and his three penalties pulled the Saxons clear. The Wolfhounds responded with scores from David Kearney and Tomas O’Leary. Simon Zebo then struck in the closing seconds. “It’s been pretty much a dream,” said Spencer.” I got the call on Monday, came in on Tuesday, didn’t expect the call to start and then to score was an absolute dream. I was pretty nervous before the game, it took it out of my legs a bit, and to get a try early on just settled me down.” The Saxons dominated at the set piece to help him ease his way into the game against senior Ireland internationals Isaac Boss and O’Leary. “It’s always a pleasure to play behind a pack that’s going forwards,” he...
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