England name 2011 Six Nations squad

England have named an expanded 33-man squad in preparation for their 2011 Six Nations campaign, kicking off with a match against Wales in Cardiff on February 4.

Two changes and a player addition have been made by coach Martin Johnson to his Elite Player Squad (EPS), with Gloucester lock Dave Attwood and Wasps back Dominic Waldouck both unavailable due to a ban and injury respectively.

Attwood was banned for nine weeks after his citing for stamping on La Rochelle prop Petrisor Toderasc, and will miss matches against Wales and Italy.

Leicester loose forward Tom Croft and Northampton lock Courtney Lawes - both incumbent players for the Red Rose - have been included in the squad despite being sidelined with shoulder and knee injuries.

The three players added to the EPS are Leicester lock Louis Deacon, Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson - who is uncapped - and new Saracens signing Charlie Hodgson.

"Louis Deacon has been in great form and with his experience it was an easy decision to bring him back in," Johnson explained to RFU.com

"Dom Waldouck has unfortunately just run out of a bit of time to get back playing after his injury, he just needs to get back to Wasps and show the form which got him in the squad.

"For the Investec Internationals in the autumn we took a calculated gamble with only having two No.9s in the squad so it is good to get Joe Simpson in as a third 9. He’s played very well this season and has got great potential, he can come in and see what we’re doing so we can get him ready in case of an injury.

"Likewise with Charlie Hodgson it’s important to have three No.10s there, especially in a Rugby World Cup year we need to have people ready to go if there are any injuries."

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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Ireland vs england rugby 19th March 2011

Ireland vs england rugby 19th March 2011

• 19th Mar 2011 -  KO 17:00 - Ground: Aviva Stadium

Ireland	vs	England

Match Links

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• RBS Six Nations 

Johnathon Sexton starts as fly half

 

Last 6 Results

Last 6 results

Ireland			England
Wales - Ireland	19-13	17-9	England - France
Scotland - Ireland	18-21	59-13	England - Italy
Ireland - France	22-25	19-26	Wales - England
Italy - Ireland	11-13	11-21	England - South Africa
Ireland - Argentina	29-9	26-13	England - Samoa
Ireland - New Zealand	18-38	35-18	England - Australia

Player Diary - Hosea Gear

Saturday October 23rd 2010

Dear Diary

It's been a great season for me, first with the New Zealand Maori team, then winning a Commonwealth Games gold medal with the New Zealand Sevens team and now being
called up for the All Blacks.

There was a lot of pressure on us in Delhi because New Zealand has won the last three gold medals for the Rugby Sevens. We knew it was going to be really tough and
we understood that we were a totally different team to the ones of the past. We had faith in each other and we were always stressing we were doing all this hard work
for the gold medal.

We had a kiwi camp for all NZ athletes at the Delhi Games. It had three big pillars that are called pou in Maori, all covered with Maori designs and every kiwi medal
winner signed them. I met some of our cyclists and swimmers there. We were able to chat and celebrate together. It was pretty cool.

It was a shame we didn't get to see much of India. The training venue was a 50-minute bus drive so that was pretty much all we saw outside of the official
venues. I was really surprised at the poverty, a bit shocked really. There was a small family living next to the training ground and there were a couple of little
kids running round. Their playground was in the rubble. A few of the boys would grab a bag, put some food in it from the village and give it to the kids.

I wasn't really expecting to be named in the All Blacks having not made selection for the Investec Tri Nations squad. My main focus has just been all about trying to
play well and not worry about anything else. But to actually hear my name called out was pretty exciting. Mum & Dad popped the champagne bottle straight away. So we
had a little family celebration.

It was good to catch up with all the boys again when we came into camp on Thursday morning. It was nice to get so many congratulations from the guys for the gold medal
win too. It wasn't quite as intimidating coming into the environment this time.

I'm sharing a room with the skipper at the moment. I have roomed with Richie (McCaw)before so that made it a little bit easier. He's a pretty quiet guy and I like listening to my music on my headphones so it's a calm room. He has been going to bed late the last few nights. I guess he has so much extra stuff to do as the Captain.

I'm looking forward to getting a chance to play. It's been a while since I've been on the field in the black jersey. It will be great to get that opportunity again.
All the training that happens, all the things you have to overcome, it's all worthwhile once you get to play. I've played for the Maori at Twickenham and I've played Sevens there. My debut was in Hong Kong a couple of years ago. It's good to know the places that we'll be playing at. Twickenham is probably my favourite because of all the history there and the crowd can be so loud and the stadium is so big.

I want to thank all the fans and supporters that have been behind me.Their support has actually helped keep me going and believing in myself.It's something I've really been aware of. So thank you.

Cheers,

Hosea Gear

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Player Diary - Jerome Kaino

Sunday 1st August 2010

Dear Diary

We had an amazing game yesterday against the Aussies. What a great week. We got to Melbourne early so there was lots of time for us to prepare for the Bledisloe Cup Test. The boys were all quite fresh too because we had a week off rugby. It was my first time in Melbourne and I loved it. I have a lot of family over there, so it was good to be able to catch up with them. Kiwis are everywhere now.

Kick off was at 8 o'clock, so it was a really, really long day. I did my usual thing of watching TV and chilling out listening to my R&B and reggae sounds. I really like listening to Midnight Youth; they're popping out some good sounds at the moment.

About 20mins before warm up I looked around and the guys were focused. There was a cool feeling in the changing room. As I pulled on my boots I popped a bit of heat rub onto my legs. That's when I switched into game mode. The game was quick. One of the things I remember was being shocked at how fast we were scoring points.

Although I have to admit when Australia scored a try off the charge down, my mind briefly jumped back to the 2008 game when they walloped us in Sydney. But as Richie reminded us, we were being dominant, get the ball down their end and keep putting the pressure on them. When DC (Dan Carter) scored his charge down try, I knew we were back on track. I couldn't believe it when we scored again 5mins later.

We've also been working on our kick offs quite a lot recently. It's like the third set piece, after scrums and lineouts. It's somewhere we can target to get hold of the ball and to make sure it's hard for the opposition to settle into the game. Overall, I was really happy with the game, especially the back row unit of myself, Richie and Reado (Kieran Read). I feel we are really developing as a unit. We can all carry the ball or do the tight work, whatever is needed of us.

It was quite disappointing that Australia were able to score two tries with 14 men on the field. I think we were guilty of relaxing because we had a good lead and they had a man in the sin bin. It would be better if we were able to maintain our intensity. But we know what it's like to get walloped, so they'll be hurting and we expect them to come back hard. We have to be ready for that. I can't wait.

It's good to be back at home with a chance of lifting those trophies in NZ. Hopefully we'll see you there.

Cheers,

Jerome Kaino

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Player Diary - Jimmy Cowan

Thursday 25th November 2010

Dear Diary

We are pretty close to the finish line now. The tour is nearly over with just one big game to finish it all off. It’s been a great tour.

We have had our own rooms over a lot of the tour but I‘ve had two good roommates over the last two weeks. I’d have to pick Jerome Kaino as my top roomie. I’m not going to mention Stephen’s (Donald) habits. Hygiene for one, not to mention his untidiness.

My top meal of the tour was in Hong Kong. It was a buffett breakfast and you could have a big bowl of soup with dumplings, meat and veggies. We all had a great feast the first day and after that we eased up on it. It was yum, the best feed of the tour.

All the hotels have been good, but I really enjoyed staying at the Royal Garden in Kensington. It’s central to everything, only a 5 minute cab ride to the city. There’s also a casino right next door so that makes for a bit of fun.

I really enjoyed Scotland just because I’ve got a bit of heritage there. The lead up to the match was pretty amazing. We got piped in by the bagpipes, I love the bagpipes, as we ran out it dropped to a lone piper and all the lights were turned off. As we lined each team was spotlighted as the fireworks were going off. That was a pretty special moment.

So now I’m just looking forward to the final match against Wales on Saturday. Fingers crossed it’ll be a great one and we’ll come home with that grand slam.

Cheers,

Jimmy Cowan

More Stories: | All Blacks | ITM Cup | Super Rugby | Heartland

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Player Diary - Liam Messam

Friday 9th July 2010

Dear Diary

It's been an interesting few weeks. It all started when I got a phone call from Ted (Graham Henry), to let me know that I hadn't made the All Blacks Squad for the Steinlager Series. So I was pretty gutted. But then he told me that I was captain of New Zealand Maori for the Sealord New Zealand Maori Centenary Series. So my disappointment was pretty short-lived once I realised I would be involved with the 100 year celebration of Maori rugby.

Although I have been captain before there was a bit more responsibility and expectation this year. I think that started because of the pressure we put on ourselves as players. We set ourselves the goal of winning all three matches in the series even though we were up against top-quality opposition.

The first game against the NZ Barbarians was good because both teams threw the ball around and we were able to play open rugby. That's the way I like to play.

The Irish game was cool because it was played in my home town of Rotorua. All my friends and family came to watch the match. The game against England had a really good crowd; actually all of them were really well supported. It was awesome that we won the whole series. It makes you proud.

So after the Centenary Series was over, I was preparing my stuff to get ready to go to the Commonwealth Games for the Sevens. Suddenly I started getting texts from my friends and family to tell me that I made the All Black squad for the Investec Tri Nations Series. I was really surprised to make the cut, because I thought the boys had played well in the last three test matches.

So it's been a real roller coaster ride. Now I've been named on the bench for the test against South Africa on Saturday at Eden Park. I think I'm pretty fortunate, because of Victor's (Vito) calf injury I have been given an opportunity. I just have to get out there and grab it now.

Cheers,

Liam Messam

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