By Guest Writer: Shaun Wren
Bath Rugby’s fly half
George Ford has been selected by head coach Stuart Lancaster as the
only change made to the England Elite Squad, replacing France-bound
Toby Flood.
The 2011 IRB Young
Player of the Year has impressed since leaving Leicester Tigers and
the shadow of Flood, to take his place alongside Owen Farrell and
Freddie Burns.
Lancaster told the RFU
official website “I am delighted for George who is
rewarded for his form for Bath and we are excited about including him
in the Senior Elite Player Squad. “We
have kept changes to a minimum because we believe that this squad can
take us forward into 2015 we and are hopeful that some of those
injured may be available before the end of the Six Nations and
certainly for the New Zealand tour.”
Lancaster
revealed he wanted Flood to stay in England adding, “He has made a
lifestyle choice and we respect that but given the RFU’s policy of
not selecting players based overseas save for exceptional
circumstances it was important that we allow others such as George
Ford to progress.”
The 20 year
old isn’t the only change made to the Six Nations back line because
joining him will be Northampton Saints centre Luther Burrell,
Gloucester winger Jonny May and Jack Nowell. While Sale
Sharks tight-head prop Henry Thomas and London Wasps loose-head Matt
Mullan follow Leicester Tigers lock Ed Slater in the changes for the
forwards, all eight have been called up due to England’s injury
list.
Burrell’s
Saints' teammate Stephen Myler also gets his chances to show what he
can do on the International stage as his consistent high performances
have also been rewarded, along with the exciting talents of Anthony
Watson (Bath Rugby) as a replacement for Ben Foden (Northampton
Saints). While Saracens centre Brad Barritt is the only noticeable
returnee to the squad after recovering from an ankle injury.
England’s
first game is away against France on the 1st
February.
England RBS
Six Nations Squad
Forwards –
Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Dylan Hartley
(Northampton Saints), Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby), Tom Johnson
(Exeter Chiefs), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Courtney Lawes
(Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Ben Morgan (Gloucester
Rugby), Matt Mullan (London Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Ed
Slater (Leicester Tigers), Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks), Billy Vunipola
(Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Rob Webber (Bath Rugby), Tom
Wood (Northampton Saints), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Backs –
Chris Ashton (Saracens), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown
(Harlequins), Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints), Danny Care
(Harlequins), Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints), Kyle Eastmond (Bath
Rugby), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath Rugby), Alex Goode
(Saracens), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby), Stephen Myler (Northampton
Saints), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester
Rugby), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens),
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Shaun Wren is studying Sports Journalism at Solent University
Twitter: @Shaun_Wren