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Danny Cipriani named in England XV squad to play the Barbarians

Danny Cipriani: Can the Sale fly-half force his way into Stuart Lancaster's World Cup plans?
Image: Danny Cipriani: Can the Sale fly-half force his way into Stuart Lancaster's World Cup plans?

Danny Cipriani will have an opportunity to stake his claim for a place in Stuart Lancaster’s World Cup plans after being named in a 24-man England XV squad to play the Barbarians next Sunday.

Joe Launchbury is also in the squad, having made his comeback from a neck injury for Wasps earlier this month, and is in line to play his first international appearance for nearly a year.

The Sale fly-half is one of 10 players selected from England’s World Cup training group, announced earlier this week, with Kieran Brookes, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Elliot Daly, Lee Dickson, Launchbury, Matt Mullan, Henry Slade, Ed Slater and Marland Yarde also set to feature.

The English side will be captained by Northampton Saints scrum-half Lee Dickson, who led the England Saxons team to victory against the Irish Wolfhounds in Cork earlier this year.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster sees the fixture as a good opportunity to assess those players who narrowly missed out on his 50-man World Cup training squad.

Lancaster said: “This is an exciting squad with a good mix of young players who have performed well in the Premiership this season, players on the fringes of the World Cup squad and those already selected.

“It gives us some valuable time together before the training camps begin next month to assess those who could come into the group before the World Cup and also a chance to assess those who should come into the reckoning beyond 2015.

“The Barbarians team is full of quality and experienced internationals who will play together this week against Ireland ahead of our game so it will provide a real test for this group and we are looking forward to that challenge.”

The match is part of a double-header season finale at the home of England Rugby next weekend which will also see Bath Rugby play Saracens in the Premiership Final.

Players from those clubs featuring in Saturday's final as well as Gloucester Rugby, who will play in the European Rugby Champions Cup play-off final after beating Connacht Rugby this afternoon, were not available for selection.

England XV squad to play Barbarians:

Backs: Will Chudley (Exeter Chiefs), Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints) captain, Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Alex Lewington (London Irish), Mathew Tait (Leicester Tigers), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Christian Wade (Wasps), Marland Yarde (Harlequins)

Forwards: Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks), Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons), Jack Clifford (Harlequins), Jake Cooper-Woolley (Wasps), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), Gareth Denman (Northampton Saints), Jon Fisher (Northampton Saints), James Gaskell (Wasps), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers), Tommy Taylor (Sale Sharks), Alex Waller (Northampton Saints), Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)

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