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Croft and Erinle join Saxons squad

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Tom Croft and Ayoola Erinle have joined Jordan Crane and Richard Blaze in the England Saxons squad for next Monday's Churchill Cup match against Scotland A at Twickenham.

Crane and Blaze played important roles in last week's comprehensive win over the USA, with the former scoring a brace of tries in the 51-3 victory.

Also joining the squad are Bath Rugby duo Nick Abendanon and Olly Barkley and Wasps' Tom Voyce, Paul Sackey, James Haskell and Danny Cipriani.

"Although I was very pleased with the way our backline went against the USA, we've decided to bring in some of the more experienced players who were involved in Europe this weekend, and after watching the games I'm very excited to be working with such an exciting group of backs," said England coach Jim Mallinder.

"Our pack, particularly our front five, were excellent on Friday, but the addition of Haskell and Croft further strengthen things for us - both players have had very good seasons with their clubs."

Ryan Lamb, man of the match in England's nine-try victory over the USA, will return to his club as part of a pre-existing agreement with Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan, to enable the fly half to begin a full pre-season conditioning programme.

Shane Geraghty suffered a minor reoccurrence of his hamstring injury and has been released back to his club for further treatment and will take no further part in the tournament.

Said Mallinder, "Although Shane's injury was just a tweak, we've decided not to risk him, instead giving him plenty of time to give him the best possible chance of contending for a place in Brian's World Cup training squad."

The starting team for the Saxons' match against Scotland A at Twickenham Stadium on bank holiday Monday, will be named on Saturday. Tickets for the match, which kicks off at 3pm, start at only £1 for under 16s, with adult tickets available from £10 from http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/
The finals day is being staged at Twickenham on Saturday June 2, where all six teams (England Saxons, New Zealand Maori, Ireland A, Scotland A, USA and Canada) will all be in action in three back to back games. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster priced from £20 for adults and £10 for under 16s.

England Saxons squad

Forwards

Richard Blaze (Worcester Warriors - Tigers as of 2007/08)
Chris Brooker (NEC Harlequins from 1 July 2007)
John Brooks (Northampton Saints)
Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)

Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons)
Jim Evans (NEC Harlequins)
Jack Forster (Gloucester Rugby)
James Haskell (London Wasps)*
Neal Hatley (London Irish, captain)
Nick Kennedy (London Irish)
Tom Mercey (Saracens)
David Paice (London Irish)
Will Skinner (NEC Harlequins)
Matt Thompson (Newcastle Falcons)
Ben Woods (Newcastle Falcons)

Backs

Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
Olly Barkley (Bath Rugby)*
Danny Cipriani (London Wasps)
Lee Dickson (Newcastle Falcons)
Ayoola Erinle (London Wasps - Tigers as of 2007/08)
Adrian Jarvis (NEC Harlequins)
Nils Mordt (London Irish)
Paul Sackey (London Wasps)*
Dan Scarbrough (Saracens)*
Kevin Sorrell (Saracens)
Tom Voyce (London Wasps)*
Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks)

* denotes capped players