Nine Leicester Tigers players have been named in the England Senior Elite Player squad named by England team manager Martin Johnson and elite rugby director Rob Andrew today.

A further five Tigers are included in the Saxons Elite Player squad.

Louis Deacon, who played in the summer Tests against Argentina after his recovery from injury, is joined by George Chuter, Jordan Crane, Ben Kay, Julian White, Dan Hipkiss, Toby Flood and British & Irish Lions duo Tom Croft and Harry Ellis in the senior squad.

Forwards Richard Blaze, Dan Cole, Lewis Moody and Ben Woods plus Sam Vesty are in the Saxons squad.

England team manager Johnson said: "Selection for the two squads has been very difficult because there is a greater strength in depth of players to choose from now than we had 12 months ago.

"The England players on the British & Irish Lions tour have played exceptionally well and it allowed us to look at other players in the matches against Argentina and in the Churchill Cup.

"We feel we have made considerable progress as a squad last season and we are looking forward to building on this during the August training camp and into the Investec Challenge internationals in November against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.

"There is strong competition for places within both of the squads but there will also be opportunities, as there were last year for movement between the Seniors and the Saxons, and for players to come in from outside the 64 because of injury, retirement or suspension. Delon Armitage and Mark Cueto are good examples of the latter and Ugo Monye and Joe Worsley have earned Lions caps after being originally selected in the Saxons.”

Johnson said the squads included players based in France and discussions with the clubs have gone well.

England Senior Elite Player Squad
Forwards (18)
Steffon Armitage (London Irish)
Steve Borthwick (Saracens)
George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)
Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers)
Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
Tim Payne (London Wasps)
Tom Rees (London Wasps)
Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
Phil Vickery (London Wasps)
Julian White (Leicester Tigers)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Joe Worsley (London Wasps)

Backs (14)
Delon Armitage (London Irish)
Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Riki Flutey (CA Brive)
Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)
Paul Hodgson (London Irish)
Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
Olly Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)
Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)

England Saxons Squad
Forwards (17)
Richard Blaze (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
Nick Kennedy (London Irish)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Matthew Mullan (Worcester Warriors)
Tom Mercey (Saracens)
Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers)
Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
David Paice (London Irish)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Will Skinner (Harlequins)
George Skivington (London Wasps)
Dan Ward-Smith (London Wasps)
Rob Webber (London Wasps)
Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)
Ben Woods (Leicester Tigers)

Backs (15)
Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Danny Cipriani (London Wasps)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints)
Topsy Ojo (London Irish)
Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
Paul Sackey (London Wasps)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
David Strettle (Harlequins)
Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
Sam Vesty (Leicester Tigers)
Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)
Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks)
Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons)