England team manager Martin Johnson

England today named the 32-man Senior and Saxons Elite Player Squads for the 2010/11 season.

The changes made to the Senior EPS since the last announcement in January include the elevation of forwards David Attwood, George Chuter, Dan Cole, Paul Doran-Jones, Hendre Fourie and Tom Palmer. The backs promoted are Chris Ashton, David Strettle, Mike Tindall, Dominic Waldouck and Ben Youngs.

Players who appeared in the 2010 RBS 6 Nations stepping down into the Saxons EPS include Steve Borthwick, who led the side against Wales, Italy, Ireland and Scotland, Ugo Monye, Mathew Tait and Louis Deacon.

England Team Manager Martin Johnson said: “This was undoubtedly the most difficult EPS selection we’ve had to make in my time in the job. I think we’ve picked the best players and the fact that some experienced guys have missed out goes to show the depth we’ve now got.

“Leaving Steve Borthwick out was a very hard decision. He’s done a fantastic job for England over the last couple of years and it’s the most difficult call we’ve had to make. It is very tough on Steve but it goes to show the depth of talent we’ve got in that area.

“We want to build on what we’ve done this summer and a Southern Hemisphere tour that was hugely beneficial and a really positive experience for the group. We were able to give lots of opportunities to players and expose them to a high level of rugby.”

New faces who have won call-ups to the Saxons EPS are forwards Jon Golding, Luke Narraway, Geoff Parling and Tom Wood, and backs Anthony Allen, Charlie Hodgson and James Simpson-Daniel.

England have a week’s training camp at Twickenham from August 8 and four Investec Internationals this autumn against New Zealand (November 6), Australia (November 13), Samoa (November 20), South Africa (November 27).

ENGLAND EPS

Forwards

• David Attwood (Gloucester Rugby)
• George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)
• Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
• Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
• Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby)
• Nick Easter (Harlequins)
• Hendre Fourie (Leeds Carnegie)
• Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
• James Haskell (Stade Francais)
• Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
• Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby)
• Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
• Tim Payne (London Wasps)
• Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
• Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
• Steve Thompson (Leeds Carnegie)
• David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
• Joe Worsley (London Wasps)

Backs

• Delon Armitage (London Irish)
• Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
• Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
• Danny Care (Harlequins)
• Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
• Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
• Riki Flutey (London Wasps)
• Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
• Shontayne Hape (Bath Rugby)
• David Strettle (Saracens)
• Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
• Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)
• Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
• Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

ENGLAND SAXONS EPS

Forwards

• Steffon Armitage (London Irish)
• Duncan Bell (Bath Rugby)
• Steve Borthwick (Saracens)
• Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
• Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
• Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
• Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
• Jon Golding (Newcastle Falcons)
• Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
• Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors)
• Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
• Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
• Tom Rees (London Wasps)
• Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
• Andy Saull (Saracens)
• Dan Ward-Smith (London Wasps)
• Rob Webber (London Wasps)
• Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)

Backs

• Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
• Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)
• Brad Barritt (Saracens)
• Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints)
• Alex Goode (Saracens)
• Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)
• Paul Hodgson (London Irish)
• Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks)
• Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
• Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
• Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
• James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby)
• Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)
• Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)

This will be the first time that Ireland has played the Barbarians in Ireland since 2000. The most recent meeting between the two sides also coincided with the last Southern Hemisphere tour Ireland undertook in 2008 when Ireland played the Barbarians in Gloucester, winning the game 39-14.

Following the Baa-Baa’s game in Limerick, the Ireland squad will depart to New Zealand and Australia where they are currently scheduled to play two games on the tour against the All Blacks on June 12th and the Wallabies on June 26th.

Irish Rugby Football Union President John Callaghan said, “This promises to be a truly memorable occasion as both IRFU and Munster welcome the Barbarian’s once more to Ireland. The much celebrated Barbarian’s brand of rugby will surely bring an entertaining game to Thomond Park and one which I am sure Ireland Rugby fans will looking forward to seeing.”

Both teams have been in a rich vein of form with Ireland’s recent unbeaten record in the Guinness Series and the Barbarians euphoric 25-18 victory against the All Blacks in front of a 65,000 crowd at Twickenham. The teams will be looking forward to the challenge of showcasing their skills once again with some scintillating, attractive running rugby to entertain the fanatical Munster rugby crowd on the day.

Announcing the agreement with Ireland and the Barbarians, Thomond Park Stadium Director John Cantwell said:

“We are delighted to have secured this most prestigious event and it further enhances the reputation of Thomond Park Stadium as an international class venue. The superb victory achieved by the Barbarians over the All Blacks last weekend highlights the quality of their squads, and I am certain that sports fans across the country will be excited at the prospect of watching the galaxy of world class players that will be participating in this unique match. This event will also deliver significant economic benefits to local businesses and provide a substantial level of positive media exposure that will help to promote the region as a tourist destination”

A spokesperson from the Barbarians confirmed that invitations have already been issued to Doug Howlett, Jean de Villiers and Paul Warwick of Munster which will be of further interest to the local fans. The Baa-baas will be a side packed full of leading international stars with further team announcements in the New Year.

Barbarian president Micky Steele-Bodger commented, “We are absolutely delighted to be invited back to Ireland where we have so many friends in the game. Over the years Irish rugby folk have done the Barbarians proud, both as players and club administrators.”

“To be visiting the new stadium at Thomond Park is an added attraction and honour for us. Back in 1991 we were in Munster to help Cork Constitution F.C. to celebrate their centenary and we have enjoyed similar anniversary matches with Old Wesley and the Wanderers in Dublin. The prospect of playing the national team and the 2009 Six Nations Champions in Limerick is something we shall look forward to tremendously and will provide a fitting climax to our 2010 summer tour.”

The Barbarians first played in Ireland in October 1957 when they beat an Ulster Invitation XV 14-11 at Ravenhill. More recently, they beat South Africa at Lansdowne Road in 1994, played there again against Ireland in the Peace International in 1996, and as part of the summer tour in 2000.

In November, MasterCard signed a match sponsorship deal for all the Barbarian Internationals in 2009-2010 with each match to be known as The MasterCard Trophy. Ben Rhodes, VP Marketing MasterCard UK remarked,

“We are delighted to add another MasterCard Trophy game to what is already a fantastic series. Ireland is a key market for us and we look forward to activating the sponsorship with some of our local key customers as we continue to build our rugby heritage ahead of the World Cup in 2011.”

Tickets for The MasterCard Trophy will go on sale on Wednesday 9th December and range from €30 to €55, plus family packs at €50 are available on www.Ticketmaster.ie and from all usual outlets including Thomond Park Stadium, or by phoning the Ticketmaster hotline on 0818 719 300.

As a pre 2009 Christmas special promotion, if you buy 2 full price tickets before January 1st 2010 you will receive a €20 merchandise voucher for use at the Munster Rugby Store. A maximum of 5,000 vouchers will be issued and purchases can be redeemed from May 1st – 5th June 2010.

(*Voucher promotion excludes family tickets and concessions)

THE BARBARIANS IN IRELAND

• 19 October 1957 v Ulster Invitation XV (Belfast) W 14-11
• 16 September 1970 v Wanderers (Dublin) W 30-9
• 10 September 1991 v Constitution (Cork) W 39-9
• 12 September 1991 v Old Wesley (Dublin) L 36-37
• 3 December 1994 v South Africa (Dublin) W 23-15
• 18 May 1996 v Ireland (Dublin) W 70-38
• 28 May 2000 v Ireland (Dublin) W 31-30

Simon Henbidge, David O'Mahony and Kevin O'Byrne

The Ireland Under-19 side will take on their Australian counterparts in their first fixture of the season. The game will take place on Tuesday the 2nd of December in Cork IT under floodlights with a 7.30pm kick-off.

Ireland Under 19′s are coached by Allen Clarke who is assisted by Colin McEntee and Jonathan Bell. The side will be captained by Blackrock’s Jordi Murphy.

Speaking ahead of the game, coach Allen Clarke said “The Under 19′s is an integral part of the National Representative Pathway. As a nation it is our first combined age grade side.”

“The match against Australia provides a unique occasion to measure our young Irish talent against the best from the Southern Hemisphere whilst offering Irish Rugby the opportunity to benchmark the quality of our Elite Player Development Programs and the quality of this year group leading into next seasons Under 20′s Six Nations and Junior World Championship tournaments.”

The Ireland Under 19 squad is as follows:

Backs -

• Mark Dolan – Marist College, Athlone
• Peter Du Toit – UCD
• James McKinney – Queen’s University
• Luke Marshall – Ballymena
• Corey Hircock – Bedford Blues
• Alex Kelly – St. Michael’s College
• Brendan Macken – Blackrock
• Tiernan O’Halloran – Galwegians
• Andrew Conway – Blackrock
• Gareth Quinn McDonagh – Shannon

Forwards -

• James Tracy – Newbridge
• Louis Padian – Worcester Warriors/Exiles
• David Doyle – UCD
• Kevin O’Byrne – Highfield
• Martin Moore – Lansdowne
• Paul Mullen – King’s Hospital
• Simon Hanbidge – CBC, Cork
• David O’Mahony – PBC, Cork
• Conor McDermott – Trinity College
• Jordi Murphy – Blackrock (Capt)
• Aaron Conneely – Colaiste Iognaid
• Eoin McKeon – Colaiste Iognaid
• Dominic Gallagher – Trinity College