Martin Johnson unveils England’s final 30-man squad for their 2011 Rugby World Cup campaign
The England’s national Rugby Union team’s head coach, Martin Johnson, has unveiled his final 30-man squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) campaign. Johnson announced his final squad on Monday, August 22.
Johnson’s squad consists of 17 forwards and 13 backs player. 11 members of the squad have previously represented England in the RWC tournaments. This includes five survivors from England’s 2003 World Cup winning outfit.
Johnson has termed the squad a good combination of youth and experience. He said, “The composition of the squad is very important and we think we have the right mix in this group.”
Johnson admitted that it was a very difficult decision to leave out players, who have been part of the training squad and worked hard during the camps. He further added, “For us now though it is important to look forward - there is great sense of unity in
this group and we are pleased with the depth across the squad.”
Johnson has named Bath Rugby’s utility forward, Lewis Moody, as captain of the side to lead the English campaign and hopefully win their second RWC title. He said, “We have a number of leaders and experienced players and have named Lewis Moody as squad captain,
we are confident he will play a pivotal role for us in New Zealand.”
Moody is one of four injured players Johnson has named in his final 30-man squad. The other three injured players named in the squad include front row forward Andrew Sheridan, scrumhalf Ben Youngs, and winger Chris Ashton.
Commenting on their selection in the squad, Johnson said, "Lewis is an important piece of what we do. So is Ben and so is Andrew Sheridan. We anticipate them being ready to go in the World Cup.”
England will take on the Ireland in their last game before their 2011 RWC opening encounter against Argentina on September 10.
England’s final 30-man squad for their 2011 RWC campaign consists of,
Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams), Courtney
Lawes (Northampton Saints), Lee Mears (Bath Rugby), Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Simon Shaw (Unattached), Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Steve Thompson (London Wasps), David Wilson (Bath Rugby), Tom Wood (Northampton
Saints).
Backs: Delon Armitage (London Irish), Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Shontayne Hape (London Irish), Joe Simpson (London
Wasps), Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Tags: