Chiefs trio in England training squad

England today announced their extended training squad for the Rugby World Cup 2015.

The 50-man group, which includes Exeter Chiefs trio Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell and Henry Slade, will meet up at Pennyhill Park on Monday, June 22 to begin preparing for the tournament which starts against Fiji at Twickenham Stadium on Friday, September 18.

England will also face France home and away and Ireland at Twickenham as part of the QBE Internationals as they build towards RWC 2015.

England Head Coach Lancaster said: “We are excited to name this extended squad which allows us to look at a wide group of players who have been pushing hard for selection in training with us or playing well for their clubs this season.

“It’s great to be able to include Alex Corbisiero, Joe Launchbury, Ben Morgan, Ed Slater and David Wilson, who missed the Six Nations because of injury and are close to returning to play or have recently begun playing again.

“There are a lot of experienced internationals within the squad with the likes of Chris Ashton and David Strettle, who are in great form, returning and it’s also good to have young players like Luke Cowan-Dickie, Elliot Daly, Maro Itoje and Henry Slade in there who have come through our player development pathway and had great seasons for their clubs.

“Ben Foden, Joe Simpson and Tom Croft have not been included at this stage due to ongoing rehabilitation from injury, but will hopefully come into consideration nearer the tournament.

“A number of this 50-man squad, such as Joe Launchbury, Elliot Daly, Danny Cipriani and Marland Yarde will be involved in the England XV side playing the Barbarians on May 31 following the Premiership semi-finals. There will also be opportunities for the likes of Dave Ewers and Christian Wade who just missed out on the initial selection but could come back in further down the line.”

The England squad to play the Barbarians will be announced at 5pm on Sunday once the Premiership finalists are known as a number of players from the losing semi-finalists could be involved.

Players from Gloucester Rugby would also not be considered should they reach the European Rugby Champions Cup qualification final.

This training squad is set to be reduced prior to the training camp in Denver and subsequently reduced again as the QBE Internationals approach, with the final 31 players for the Rugby World Cup being announced by the August 31 deadline.

England Rugby World Cup training squad

Chris Ashton (Saracens)
Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints)
Sam Burgess (Bath Rugby)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks)
Calum Clark (Northampton Saints)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
Elliot Daly (Wasps)
Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby)
Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
George Ford (Bath Rugby)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
James Haskell (Wasps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Matt Mullan (Wasps)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers)
David Strettle (Saracens)
Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Rob Webber (Bath Rugby)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Marland Yarde (Harlequins)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
England fixtures

May 31, Twickenham Stadium, England XV v Barbarians, 3pm
August 15, QBE International, Twickenham Stadium, England v France, 8pm
August 22, Stade de France, France v England, 9pm (local time)
September 5, QBE International, Twickenham Stadium, England v Ireland, 2.30pm
September 18, RWC 2015, Twickenham Stadium, England v Fiji, 8pm
September 26, RWC 2015, Twickenham Stadium, England v Wales, 8pm
October 3, RWC 2015, Twickenham Stadium, England v Australia, 8pm
October 10, RWC 2015, Manchester City Stadium, England v Uruguay, 8pm