Worcester Warriors duo Tom Wood and Miles Benjamin have both been named in the England Saxons squad to face Ireland A at Bath’s Recreation Ground on Sunday (kick off 2.00pm).
Academy products Wood, who will start in the back row, and Benjamin, who is named on the bench, are both selected by Saxons Head Coach Stuart Lancaster after impressing throughout this season at Sixways.
Alex Goode (Saracens) will start at full back making way for Northampton’s Shane Geraghty at fly half. Whilst Leicester Tigers scrum half Ben Youngs makes his England Saxons debut.
David Strettle (Harlequins) returns to the wing alongside an experienced Saxons backline of Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps), Brad Barritt (Saracens) and Noah Cato (Saracens).
Wood and David Attwood (Gloucester Rugby) make their Saxons debuts. Newcomers Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers), Jon Clarke (Northampton Saints) and Benjamin (Worcester Warriors) take their place on the bench.
Last year England Saxons recorded victories against Portugal (66-0) before travelling to Denver for the Churchill Cup, beating Argentina Jaguars (28-20) and USA (56-17) on the way to the final where they lost to Ireland A 49-22.
Lancaster said: “We are really looking forward to Sunday. We have a young squad full of quality players and a good mix of experience. I’m sure they will rise to a challenging Ireland A squad.”
England Saxons:
15 Alex Goode (Saracens)
14 David Strettle (Harlequins)
13 Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)
12 Brad Barritt (Saracens)
11 Noah Cato (Saracens)
10 Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
1 Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)
2 David Paice (London Irish)
3 Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby)
4 Dave Attwood (Gloucester Rugby)
5 George Skivington (London Wasps, captain)
6 Tom Wood (Worcester Warriors)
7 Andy Saull (Saracens)
8 Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
Replacements:
16 Tom Mercey (Saracens)
17 Rob Webber (London Wasps)
18 Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
19 Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
20 Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons)
21 Jon Clarke (Northampton Saints)
22 Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors)
Tickets for England Saxons v Ireland A at Bath Rugby’s Recreation Ground are on sale now priced from £15 for adults and £7 for juniors please call 0844 448 1865 or go to the Bath Rugby website www.bathrugby.com