martin johnson englandThe January 2011 England and England Saxons Elite Player Squads have been announced today by England Team Manager Martin Johnson and England Saxons Head Coach Stuart Lancaster.

There are three additions to the England EPS in Sale Sharks fly half Charlie Hodgson, Leicester Tigers lock Louis Deacon and uncapped London Wasps scrum half Joe Simpson.

Deacon and Simpson replace David Attwood (Gloucester Rugby) and Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps) respectively with Hodgson’s addition making up a 33-man group.

Simpson, 21, makes his first appearance in the England senior EPS and is one of 14 players in the squad aged 25 or under.

Temporary injury replacements for Northampton Saints lock Courtney Lawes and Leicester Tigers flanker Tom Croft will be named later this month.

England open the 2011 RBS 6 Nations against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Friday, February 4 (7.45pm).

Twenty year-olds Joe Marler and James Gaskell are among six changes to the England Saxons squad where Lancaster will be joined by National Academy coaches Jon Callard and Simon Hardy this season.

The Saxons face Italy A at Worcester on January 29 (3.15pm) and Ireland A in Belfast on February 4 (7.30pm).

Harlequins prop Marler, Northampton Saints centre Jon Clarke, Leicester Tigers fly half Billy Twelvetrees and Attwood are added in place of Jon Golding (Newcastle Falcons), Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints), Hodgson and Deacon.

Sale Sharks forward Gaskell and Northampton Saints lock Christian Day are named as injury replacements for Tom Rees (London Wasps) and Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers).

Temporary injury replacements for prop Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors), hooker Rob Webber (London Wasps) and Dan Ward-Smith (London Wasps) will be named later this month.

ENGLAND ELITE PLAYER SQUAD

FORWARDS

George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)

Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)

Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)

Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby)

Nick Easter (Harlequins)

Hendre Fourie (Leeds Carnegie)

Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)

James Haskell (Stade Francais)

Courtney Lawes(Northampton Saints)

Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby)

Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)

Tim Payne (London Wasps)

Simon Shaw (London Wasps)

Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)

Steve Thompson (Leeds Carnegie)

David Wilson (Bath Rugby)

Joe Worsley (London Wasps)

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 (Sale Sharks)

Joe Simpson (London Wasps)

David Strettle (Saracens)

Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)

Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)

Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

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ENGLAND SAXONS EPS

FORWARDS

Steffon Armitage (London Irish)

David Attwood (Gloucester Rugby)

Duncan Bell (Bath Rugby)

Steve Borthwick (Saracens)

Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)

Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)

Christian Day (Northampton Saints)

Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)

James Gaskell (Sale Sharks)

Joe Marler (Harlequins)

Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)

Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors)

Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)

Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)

Andrew Saull (Saracens)

Dan Ward-Smith (London Wasps)

Rob Webber (London Wasps)

Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)

BACKS

Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)

Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)

Brad Barritt (Saracens)

Jon Clarke (Northampton Saints)

Alex Goode (Saracens)

Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)

Paul Hodgson (London Irish)

Ugo Monye (Harlequins)

Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)

James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby)

Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)

Billy Twelvetrees (Leicester Tigers)

Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)

Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)

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