manu tuilagi leicester and england saxons

Saracens prop Matt Stevens and Leicester Tigers centre Manu Tuilagi are among the players named in England Team Manager Martin Johnson’s 45-man preliminary training squad for the Rugby World Cup.

All of the 2011 RBS 6 Nations squad are included, while there are call-ups for Stevens, his Saracens teammate Mouritz Botha and Gloucester wing Charlie Sharples, all of whom helped England Saxons retain the Churchill Cup against Canada on Saturday.

Also named are Leicester Tigers pair Thomas Waldrom and Manusamoa Tuilagi – Rugby Players’ Association Player and Aviva Premiership Young Player of the Year respectively – as well as Richard Wigglesworth from champions Saracens.

Others who will spend the coming weeks preparing for the Investec International against Wales at Twickenham Stadium on August 6 are Bath Rugby hooker Lee Mears, Harlequins wing Ugo Monye, and Gloucester Rugby wing James Simpson-Daniel.

Johnson said: “Every one of these players has the chance to be in that final 30 going to New Zealand. The camp is going to be intense and competitive, as you would expect leading up to a World Cup, but all the players are ready for it.

“We have guys such as Lewis Moody, Jonny Wilkinson and Mike Tindall who have been in this situation before but also a lot of players who won’t have experienced a World Cup training camp. It’s now up to all of them to set down their marker over the next 10 weeks before we head to New Zealand.”

England Squad, reduced to 30 on 22 August.

Backs
Delon Armitage – London Irish
Chris Ashton – Northampton Saints
Matt Banahan – Bath Rugby
Danny Care – Harlequins
Mark Cueto – Sale Sharks
Toby Flood – Leicester Tigers
Riki Flutey – London Wasps
Ben Foden – Northampton Saints
Shontayne Hape – Bath Rugby
Charlie Hodgson – Saracens
Ugo Monye – Harlequins
Charlie Sharples – Gloucester Rugby
Joe Simpson – London Wasps
James Simpson-Daniel – Gloucester Rugby
David Strettle – Saracens
Mike Tindall – Gloucester Rugby
Manusamoa Tuilagi – Leicester Tigers
Richard Wigglesworth – Saracens
Jonny Wilkinson – RC Toulon
Ben Youngs – Leicester Tigers

Forwards
Mouritz Botha – Saracens
George Chuter – Leicester Tigers
Dan Cole – Leicester Tigers
Alex Corbisiero – London Irish
Tom Croft – Leicester Tigers
Louis Deacon – Leicester Tigers
Paul Doran-Jones  – Gloucester Rugby
Nick Easter – Harlequins
Hendre Fourie – Sale Sharks
Dylan Hartley – Northampton Saints
James Haskell – Unattached
Courtney Lawes – Northampton Saints
Lee Mears – Bath Rugby
Lewis Moody – Bath Rugby
Tom Palmer – Stade Francais
Tim Payne – London Wasps
Chris Robshaw – Harlequins
Simon Shaw – London Wasps
Andrew Sheridan – Sale Sharks
Matt Stevens – Saracens
Steve Thompson – London Wasps
Thomas Waldrom – Leicester Tigers
David Wilson – Bath Rugby
Tom Wood – Northampton Saints
Joe Worsley – London Wasps