England reduce training squad to face Wales to 22

Posted on Feb 22, 2012

The following players will return to Pennyhill Park on Wednesday evening to train with England ahead of Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations match against Wales at Twickenham Stadium:

Forwards (12)

Mouritz Botha (Saracens)
Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Ben Morgan (Scarlets)
Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Matt Stevens (Saracens)
Rob Webber (London Wasps)

Backs (10)

Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Charlie Hodgson (Saracens)
David Strettle (Saracens)
Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

The following players will return to their clubs this evening and be available for the weekend’s Aviva Premiership Round 16:

Chris Brooker Harlequins)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Calum Clark (Northampton Saints)
Paul Doran Jones (Northampton Saints)
Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins)
Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)

England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: "We’ve had a great two days of  training and some difficult selection decisions with players coming back into the equation. There are some players have missed out this time but their attitude in training has been outstanding. We will look forward to meeting again on Wednesday night with our match day 22 and finalising preparations for the game."

HEC weekend results

Posted on Nov 21, 2011

Cardiff Blues v London Irish 24-18

Clermont v Aironi 54-3

Edinburgh v Racing Metro 48-47

Northampton Saints v Scarlets 23-28

Benetton Treviso v Ospreys 26-26

Biarritz v Saracens 15-10

Castres v Munster 24-27

Gloucester v Harlequins 9-28

Connacht v Toulouse 10-36

Leicester Tigers v Ulster 20-9

Leinster v Glasgow 38-13

Bath Rugby v Montpellier 16-13

Wales U18 go down to late England try

Posted on Apr 18, 2011

England U18 dramatically secured their place in the final of the FIRA/AER Championship after overcoming neighbours Wales 38-34 at the Stade Jaques Fouroux in Auch, France.

With seconds left on the clock and England 34-31 behind, London Irish wing Anthony Watson touched down for John Fletcher’s men to clinch a tight win. At one point, England found themselves 17 points behind Wales, but clinical finishing in the final ten minutes ensured a memorable victory.

Exeter Chiefs full back Jack Nowell got England off to a dream start, showing a quick turn of pace to dart in between two Welsh players before touching down just wide of the post with one minutes on the clock.  Fellow Chief Henry Slade added the conversion and then scored a penalty to give England a 10-0 lead.

Despite the early setback, Wales soon sprung into life and were eventually rewarded for their efforts, scoring two converted tries in quick succession to give them a 14-10 lead. Wales then added two penalties before the break to give them at 10-point cushion at half time, leading 20-10.

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Rees decides not to appeal ban

Posted on Jan 14, 2011

Having received the written submission from the ERC regarding the 12 week ban imposed on Blues Scrumhalf Richie Rees, Cardiff Blues will not be appealing against the decision to ban Richie Rees for 12 weeks.

An independent Disciplinary Hearing in Dublin on Thursday, 6th January, 2011, upheld a citing complaint made by the Citing Commissioner for the match, Murray Whyte, that Richie Rees had made contact with the eye area of Northampton Saints hooker, Dylan Hartley.

Rees pleaded not guilty to the complaint on the basis that any contact had been accidental. However, the independent Judicial Officer, Pat Barriscale (Ireland), reviewed all of the evidence and concluded Rees was guilty of foul play in contravention of Law 10.4(m) in that he had made contact with the eye/eye area of Mr Hartley. The Judicial Officer found that the contact had been reckless but not intentional and also found that the offending was at the low end of the level of seriousness for an offence of this type, and having taken into account all aggravating and mitigating factors imposed a suspension of 12 weeks.

Richie Rees is free to play again on 31st March 2011.

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