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 (above), 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 Stuart 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.”

See more at: http://exeterchiefs.co.uk/news/chiefs-trio-in-england-training-squad/#st...