London Irish trio included in England World Cup squad
James Walker-Roberts • Published 20 Jun 2011 09:30
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LONDON Irish trio Alex Corbisiero, Delon Armitage and Shontayne Hape have been named in England's preliminary training squad for the Rugby World Cup in September.
However, there was no room for Paul Hodgson, David Paice, Topsy Ojo or Jamie Gibson, all of whom featured for England Saxons during their successful Churchill Cup campaign.
Gibson scored the final try as England retained the trophy with a 37-6 victory over Canada at the weekend while Paice and Hodgson started and Ojo came off the bench.
However, despite some impressive performances, the quartet are not included in the 45-man squad, which will be whittled down to 30 players on August 22.
Matt Stevens, who finished serving a two-year drugs suspension in January, is in the squad and so too is Leicester's Manu Tuilagi - voted the Premiership's young player of the year last season.
"Every one of these players has the chance to be in that final 30 going to New Zealand," said England coach Martin Johnson.
"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. 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 play Wales at Twickenham on August 13 and Ireland on August 27 before kicking off their World Cup campaign against Argentina in Dunedin, New Zealand, on Saturday September 10.
** Pick up the Reading Chronicle for more London Irish news **
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