Rugby News
15th Jan 2007Phil Vickery - new England captain
In a bold decision, new Endland Coach Ashton has names Phil Vickery the new Captain of the England side.
It will be Vickery who leads England (to victory hopefully) in the 2007 Rugby World Cup ahead of Martin Corry, who's reign as captain saw him lead his team to numerous defeats in a disasterous 2006 - so bad was their season it cost Andy Robinson his job as manager of the squad.
Sale Sharks fullback, Jason Robinson will also make a return to the England squad, more than 15 months since World Cup-winner quit Test rugby with 30 caps under his belt.
Laurence Dallaglio misses out on the Senior Squad or the England Saxons, which features Ben Cohen, Ben Kay and Richard Hill.
"I am delighted to have been named in the squad and am looking forward to meeting up with the players at the end of the month," said Robinson.
"My focus at this moment in time though is leading Sale Sharks on Saturday evening in a must win game against Gloucester at Edgeley Park."
The squad will soon be back to training in preparation for thh Six Nations. Endlands tournament begins on 3 February when they are up against Scotland at Twickenham Stadium.
England squad:
Backs: Iain Balshaw (Gloucester), Mike Catt (London Irish), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers), Andy Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Newcastle), Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Josh Lewsey (London Wasps), Jamie Noon (Newcastle), Shaun Perry (Bristol), Jason Robinson (Sale Sharks), Peter Richards (Gloucester), Paul Sackey (London Wasps), Mathew Tait (Newcastle), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons).
Forwards: Alex Brown (Gloucester), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers), Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Perry Freshwater (Perpignan), Danny Grewcock (Bath), Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks), Lee Mears (Bath), Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers), Tim Payne (London Wasps), Tom Palmer (London Wasps), Tom Rees (London Wasps), Steve Thompson (Northampton), Phil Vickery (London Wasps, capt), Dan Ward-Smith (Bristol), Julian White (Leicester Tigers), Joe Worsley (London Wasps).
England Saxons squad:
Forwards: Alex Clarke (Bristol Rugby), Steve Borthwick (Bath Rugby), Chris Brooker (Bath Rugby), Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers), Nick Easter (NEC Harlequins), James Forrester (Gloucester Rugby), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (London Wasps), Richard Hill (Saracens), Chris Jones (Sale Sharks), Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers), Pat Sanderson (Worcester Warriors), Dean Schofield (Sale Sharks), Andy Titterrell (Sale Sharks), Stuart Turner (Sale Sharks), David Wilson (Newcastle Falcons), Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby).
Backs: Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby), Stuart Abbott (NEC Harlequins), Anthony Allen (Gloucester Rugby), Olly Barkley (Bath Rugby), Michael Brown (NEC Harlequins), Ben Cohen (Northampton Saints), Ben Foden (Sale Sharks), Ryan Lamb (Gloucester Rugby), Olly Morgan (Gloucester Rugby), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby), Dave Strettle (NEC Harlequins), Chev Walker (Bath Rugby), Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Nick Walshe (Bath Rugby), Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks).
