England Saxons coach Stuart Lancaster has named his side to face Ireland A at the Rec on Sunday at 2pm.
Alex Goode will start at full back making way for Northampton’s Shane Geraghty at fly half whilst Leicester Tigers scrum half Ben Youngs makes his England Saxons debut.
David Strettle returns to the wing alongside an experienced Saxons backline of Dominic Waldouck, Brad Barritt and Noah Cato.
Worcester’s Tom Wood and David Attwood make their Saxons debuts whilst newcomers Geoff Parling, Jon Clarke and Miles Benjamin take their place on the bench.
The team in full:
15 Alex Goode (Saracens)
14 David Strettle (Harlequins)
13 Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)
12 Brad Barritt (Saracens)
11 Noah Cato (Saracens)
10 Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
1 Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)
2 David Paice (London Irish)
3 Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby)
4 Dave Attwood (Gloucester Rugby)
5 George Skivington (London Wasps, captain)
6 Tom Wood (Worcester Warriors)
7 Andy Saull (Saracens)
8 Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
Replacements:
16 Tom Mercey (Saracens)
17 Rob Webber (London Wasps)
18 Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
19 Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
20 Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons)
21 Jon Clarke (Northampton Saints)
22 Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors)
Danny Cipriani is unavailable for selection due to a family bereavement and the Saxons coaches and Wasps staff have given him their full support.
What an exciting team!!! Let’s hope that some of the youngsters put their hand up for full honours, and lets hope that isn’t ignored by boring England management!!
This does look like a great team, with some real talent. It ought to give us hope for the future, but there’s a nagging feeling that most of these players won’t get near the first team, and if they do, their talents will be suppressed in the narrow vision of ‘elite’ English rugby.