England call for reinforcements
England added New Zealand-born Thomas Waldrom and Matt Banahan to their squad as injury cover on Sunday ahead of next weekend’s Six Nations opener against Scotland.
Leicester back row Waldrom, summoned late to the World Cup in New Zealand as injury cover but yet to be capped, has been called up because of a calf injury to Luke Narraway.
Meanwhile, Bath back Banahan has been summoned because of Henry Trinder’s ankle problem.
Both Waldrom and Banahan were members of the England Saxons side that beat the Irish Wolfhounds 23-17 at Exeter, south-west England, when the national reserve teams met on Saturday.
Gloucester duo Narraway and Trinder will stay with their club this week as England prepare to begin the defence of their Six Nations title away to Scotland at Murrayfield this coming Saturday.
Other England players ruled out of the Scotland match are centre Manu Tuilagi (calf), fly-half/centre Toby Flood (knee), flanker Tom Wood (foot) and lock Courtney Lawes (knee).
Acting England coach Stuart Lancaster is due to name his captain on Monday, following the post World Cup Test retirement of former skipper Lewis Moody, with the team for the Calcutta Cup clash set to be revealed on Thursday.
England – revised:
Backs: Chris Ashton (Northampton), Matt Banahan (Bath), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Lee Dickson (Northampton), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Ben Foden (Northampton), Alex Goode (Saracens), Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), Joe Simpson (London Wasps), Charlie Sharples (Gloucester), David Strettle (Saracens), Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), Ben Youngs (Leicester).
Forwards: Dave Attwood (Bath), Mouritz Botha (Saracens), Calum Clark (Northampton), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Dan Cole (Leicester), Tom Croft (Leicester), Phil Dowson (Northampton), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Lee Mears (Bath), Ben Morgan (Scarlets/WAL), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais/France), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Rob Webber (London Wasps), David Wilson (Bath), Thomas Waldrom (Leicester).
AFP
