Borthwick dropped from england elite squad

Ciaran-Irl

Ex-England captain Steve Borthwick out of elite squad. Monye also dropped.

Borthwick (left) was Johnson's captain for the first 20 Tests of his tenure
England manager Martin Johnson has dropped former captain Steve Borthwick from his new elite 32-man squad.

The Saracens lock was Johnson's leader for the first 20 Tests of his tenure before a knee injury forced him to miss the Six Nations finale against France.
Uncapped Dave Attwood of Gloucester, Tom Palmer of Stade Francais, veteran Wasp Simon Shaw and Northampton's Courtney Lawes are the locks included.

Johnson called it a "very hard decision" to leave out Borthwick.
"He's done a fantastic job for England over the last couple of years and it's the most difficult call we've had to make," he said. "It is very tough on Steve but it goes to show the depth of talent we've got in that area."
Borthwick, 30, has to make do with a place in the second-string Saxons squad, along with two British and Irish Lions - wing Ugo Monye and hooker Lee Mears - and six other players demoted from the senior squad.

Flanker Steffon Armitage, lock Louis Deacon, number eight Jordan Crane, centres Mathew Tait and Dan Hipkiss and scrum-half Paul Hodgson all drop down, while Harry Ellis - who endured an injury-plagued season - misses out on both the squads.

Promoted to the elite group for the first time are Leicester prop Dan Cole and scrum-half Ben Youngs, who have already established their Test credentials, Wasps centre Dominic Waldouck, Gloucester prop Paul Doran-Jones and Leeds flanker Hendrie Fourie.

There is a return to the EPS squad for World Cup-winning centre Mike Tindall, who has made a successful comeback to the Test side, experienced flanker Joe Worsley and hooker George Chuter.

Harlequins wing David Strettle is also promoted at the expense of club-mate Monye.

More to follow.

England elite player squad:
Forwards (18): T Payne (Wasps), A Sheridan (Sale), D Cole (Leicester), P Doran-Jones (Gloucester), D Wilson (Bath); G Chuter (Leicester), D Hartley (Northampton), S Thompson (Leeds); D Attwood (Gloucester), C Lawes (Northampton), T Palmer (Stade Francais), S Shaw (Wasps); T Croft (Leicester), N Easter (Harlequins), H Fourie (Leeds), J Haskell (Stade Francais), L Moody (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps).
Backs (14): D Armitage (London Irish), B Foden (Northampton); C Ashton (Northampton), M Banahan (Bath), M Cueto (Sale), D Strettle (Harlequins); R Flutey (Brive), S Hape (Bath), M Tindall (Gloucester), D Waldouck (Wasps); T Flood (Leicester), J Wilkinson (Toulon); D Care (Harlequins), B Youngs (Leicester).



Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/english/8777828.stm

buck65

Johnno must have had that corrective brain surgery that was clouding his vision the past couple of years - we could all be in trouble now that Borthwick is gone.

jdivision

Too true. Borthwick's been awful

Now all he needs to do is drop Banahan, Haskell, Thompson and Armitage.

Judgement Day

Yep, Borthwick and Moyne were both liabilities - they won't be back. England for another World Cup final before losing, of course, to the All Blacks?

PhatPiggins

Borthwick is not a great player by any stretch of the imagination but he's a good captain and decent in the lineout.

Got plenty of stick the past 18 months, most of it deserved, but there weren't a lot of other locks putting their hands up. Nick Kennedy is lucky to still be getting a game for LI and Lawes only played the first decent game of his england career last time out. The fact that MJ is almost forced to keep Simon "1 good game in 8" Shaw in the squad shows how hard up they are.

toomevara

Watch out for Hendrie Fourie, serious talent, and a major reason behind leeds' ability to stay up last season...

Stev_o

toomevara wrote: »

Watch out for Hendrie Fourie, serious talent, and a major reason behind leeds' ability to stay up last season...

He's also 30 and foreign and preventing Robshaw who is far better from getting in the EPS squad.

toomevara

Stev_o wrote: »

He's also 30 and foreign and preventing Robshaw who is far better from getting in the EPS squad.

Good point of course, but still a fine player.

PhatPiggins

Stev_o wrote: »

He's also 30 and foreign and preventing Robshaw who is far better from getting in the EPS squad.

Robshaw is no where near physical enough and the change in the breakdown intrepretations have further handicaped him. Good club player but thats about it, in my humble opinion.

danthefan

I would have serious doubts over dropping Borthwick and keeping Shaw. Shaw has declined so much since the Lions tour.

buck65

Because he recently turned 55!!

bleg

Thoroughly deserved.

twinytwo

drop monye but keep banahan when they are as bad as each other

PhatPiggins

twinytwo wrote: »

drop monye but keep banahan when they are as bad as each other

They are but it keeps with Johnsons plan of playing wannabe flankers from 12 - 15. In fairness Bananaman might be avergae but at least he doesn't drop the ball all the time.