THERE were raised eyebrows today when Martin Johnson named his first England elite player squad - absentees including former Rotherham Titan Dave Strettle.
World Cup winners Mike Tindall, Ben Kay and Joe Worsley all failed to make the cut.
All three have been dumped a level below into the Saxons squad, along with Strettle and Nick Easter, while Charlie Hodgson has been dropped altogether.
New Zealand-born centre Riki Flutey, who becomes eligible for England in September, gets a place though.
Forwards: Steve Borthwick (Saracens), George Chuter (Leicester), Jordan Crane (Leicester), Tom Croft (Leicester), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), James Haskell (Wasps), Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Lee Mears (Bath), Lewis Moody (Leicester), Luke Narraway (Gloucester), Tom Palmer (Wasps), Tim Payne (Wasps), Tom Rees (Wasps), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale), Matt Stevens (Bath), Phil Vickery (Wasps).
Backs: Olly Barkley (Gloucester), Danny Care (Harlequins), Harry Ellis (Leicester), Toby Flood (Leicester), Riki Flutey (Wasps), Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Dan Hipkiss (Leicester), Josh Lewsey (Wasps), Jamie Noon (Newcastle), Pete Richards (London Irish), Paul Sackey (Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), Mathew Tait (Sale), Tom Varndell (Leicester), Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle).
What do you think? Post your comments below. READ MORE Football headlinesMore BladesMore OwlsMore SpireitesMore RoversMore RedsMore MillersMore Ice HockeyMore rugby leagueMore rugby unionMore boxingSports columnistsAll sport categoriesThe full article contains 230 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
