England call for Chiefs quartet

England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster has included four Exeter Chiefs players in a 55-man group called together for a four-day training camp in Loughborough.

Luke Cowan-Dickie (above), Tom Johnson, Jack Nowell and Henry Slade all reported on Sunday  to the university for strength and conditioning assessments as well as rugby training before departing at lunchtime on Wednesday.

This is the first time the players have met since the three Test tour to New Zealand last June, with the majority of the travelling party attending. Saracens flanker Jackson Wray makes a first appearance, while a number of players who missed the tour through injury – Anthony Allen, Alex Corbisiero, Tom Croft. George Ford, Mako Vunipola and Christian Wade – will also report for training.

Lancaster said the time together as a group is vital and said the main objective will be to take the learnings from the three defeats in New Zealand this summer before meeting the All Blacks again in the opening QBE International at Twickenham Stadium on November 8.

“This camp will give us a chance to get the wider squad together and an opportunity to review the New Zealand tour,” he said.

“It will be an important few days for us in terms of complementing the work that the clubs have been doing in pre-season with their strength and conditioning but also from a rugby point of view. The next time we meet will be two weeks before we play New Zealand in the QBE Internationals so this time together is vital.”

Lancaster will name a 33-man England Senior squad and a 32-man England Saxons squad in November. He outlined the importance of the opening rounds of Aviva Premiership action in shaping the composition of those groups.

“In collaboration with Premiership Rugby we have been given the flexibility to announce the England Senior and Saxons squads in October, much closer to our four international matches in November,” Lancaster added.

“We appreciate their support of our proposal which enables time to assess the first part of the club season and therefore select players who are in form leading into an important series for us. It also allows an opportunity for players not involved in the training camp this week to put down a marker in terms of their performances ahead of the squad announcement.”

England training squad

Loose-head props
Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Matt Mullan (Wasps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)

Tight-head props
Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons)
Henry Thomas (Bath Rugby)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)

Hookers
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Rob Webber (Bath Rugby)
Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

Locks
Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers)

Back rows
Calum Clark (Northampton Saints)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Will Fraser (Saracens)
James Haskell (Wasps)
Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs)
Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Jackson Wray (Saracens)

Scrum halves
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

Fly halves
Freddie Burns (Leicester Tigers)
Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
George Ford (Bath Rugby)
Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)

Centres
Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints)
Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
Henry Trinder (Gloucester Rugby)
Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)

Back threes
Chris Ashton (Saracens)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Chris Pennell (Worcester Warriors)
Marland Yarde (Harlequins)
Christian Wade (Wasps)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)

The following players will not join the training squad this week due to injury:
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Sam Dickinson (Northampton Saints)
Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby)