Cipriani, Easter get England recalls
Harlequins No.8 Nick Easter and Sale Sharks flyhalf Danny Cipriani have been named in Stuart Lancaster's England training squad for the forthcoming Six Nations championship.
The 34-man group will meet up at Pennyhill Park on Monday, January 26, to prepare for their tournament-opening match against Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Friday, February 6.
There are also places for five British and Irish Lions – as Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints), Dan Cole, Geoff Parling, Tom Youngs (all Leicester Tigers) and Mako Vunipola (Saracens) return from respective injuries.
Northampton Saints lock Courtney Lawes is left out as he recovers from minor ankle surgery, while Gloucester No.8 Ben Morgan – named man of the recent year-end Tests – is sidelined with a broken leg.
His omission means Easter is rewarded for some fine domestic form, marrying dextrous skill and intense workrate from the base of the scrum to rack up 23 offloads and 145 carries in 12 league appearances for Conor O'Shea's men.
Easter's inclusion ends a three-and-a-half-year international hiatus that stretches back to the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal defeat to France, a match in which he won his 47th cap.
Cipriani, capped on England's tour to New Zealand last June, has displayed a blend of mature game management and moments of precocious attack in guiding Sale to within two points of the Premiership top four and the talented No.10 will compete with George Ford, Owen Farrell and Stephen Myler for a Test berth.
Speaking on announcing both the senior party and the Saxons squad, the England coach, Lancaster, said: "Looking at both squads, it is obvious that there is a lot of depth and competition in every position, which is what we want.
"Many players are putting their hand up in the Premiership and Europe and they have a chance to impress in training as we build towards the games against Wales and the Wolfhounds.
"It's great to welcome back some of those players unavailable for the year-end Tests. They offer us a lot of quality and experience. So too Nick Easter, who has played well for Harlequins.
"Given the injury to Ben Morgan, he and Tom Waldrom in the Saxons will provide us with specialist No.8 options alongside Billy Vunipola. That's something we feel we need going into the tournament.
"We have plenty of players to consider and with some players still being assessed from last weekend after suffering knocks we have kept our options open.
"It's a big European weekend ahead and there may be further changes once we assess the fitness of the players after round six and we will provide an update on Monday.
"We will use the four-day training camp and the Saxons game to narrow down selection as we lead into the opening game against Wales.
"We will be without Joe Launchbury and Ben [Morgan] and it was a real shame to see Ben Foden pick up his injury up last weekend. We will continue to work with Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers with Courtney and Manu [Tuilagi] to see where they are as the Six Nations progresses."
Lancaster added: "Chris Robshaw will lead the team in the Six Nations. He has fully recovered from his shoulder injury and as we have seen over the last three years he is an outstanding captain who delivers consistently as a player and a leader."
England squad:
Forwards: Dave Attwood (Bath), Calum Clark (Northampton Saints), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Wasps), Graham Kitchener (Leicester Tigers), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, captain), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Backs: Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints), Danny Care (Harlequins), Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks), Kyle Eastmond (Bath), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath), Alex Goode (Saracens), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Jonny May (Gloucester), Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Anthony Watson (Bath), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
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