Leicester Tigers duo Mathew Tait and Ed Slater have been included in the England squad to face the Barbarians at Twickenham next Sunday.Head coach Stuart Lancaster has selected 24 players including 10 from England’s World Cup training group announced last week.
The England XV will be captained by scrum-half Lee Dickson who has 18 Test caps and led the England Saxons to victory against the Irish Wolfhounds in Cork this year.
The Barbarians fixture will also provide an opportunity for those who narrowly missed out on the initial 50-man World Cup squad to impress as well as the chance for a number of up-and-coming players to work with England’s senior coaches next week and play against a host of top internationals at Twickenham.
Players from Aviva Premiership finalists as well as Gloucester Rugby, who will play in the European Rugby Champions Cup play-off final, were not available for selection.
Coach Lancaster said: “This is an exciting squad with a good mix of young players who have performed well in the Premiership this season, players on the fringes of the World Cup squad and those already selected.
“It gives us some valuable time together before the training camps begin next month to assess those who could come into the group before the World Cup and also a chance to assess those who should come into the reckoning beyond 2015."
Tickets for the match are priced from £35 and £15 for juniors (U16) at www.ticketmaster.co.uk or 0844 847 2492.
Last season's fixture saw an experienced Barbarians team beat the England XV side 39-29 in an eight-try match in front of more than 50,000 supporters at Twickenham.
England XV squad to play Barbarians:
Backs
Will Chudley (Exeter Chiefs)
Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks)
Elliot Daly (Wasps)
Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints) captain
Shane Geraghty (London Irish)
Alex Lewington (London Irish)
Mathew Tait (Leicester Tigers)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Christian Wade (Wasps)
Marland Yarde (Harlequins)
Forwards
Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks)
Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons)
Jack Clifford (Harlequins)
Jake Cooper-Woolley (Wasps)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
Gareth Denman (Northampton Saints)
Jon Fisher (Northampton Saints)
James Gaskell (Wasps)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Matt Mullan (Wasps)
Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers)
Tommy Taylor (Sale Sharks)
Alex Waller (Northampton Saints)
Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
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Tait joins Slater in England squad
24 May 2015 8:15 PM
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