England have named six Lions in their starting line up for Saturday’s first Test against Australia in Perth.
Former Lions skipper and now England team manager Martin Johnson has chosen three Lions from the 2009 tour of South and three more from the previous trip to New Zealand four years earlier.
Tim Payne, Simon Shaw and Tom Croft featured for Britain and Ireland’s elite last summer, while Mark Cueto, Steve Thompson and Lewis Moody all won Lions Test caps against the All Blacks back in 2005.
Shaw is the only of the five to have represented the Lions on more than one tour, having appeared in 1997, 2005 and 2009, and his presence will be a big boost for England after he missed a sizeable chunk of the autumn internationals and Six Nations through injury.
Shaw is partnered by Stade Francais’ Tom Palmer in the second row, with Harlequins No8 Nick Easter joining Croft and Moody in the back row.
Bath-bound Moody captains the side from the openside flank, while Thompson and Payne pack down alongside Leicester youngster Dan Cole in the front row.
Cueto and Chris Ashton start ahead of another Lion in Ugo Monye out wide, with Toby Flood keeping the No10 shirt ahead of double Lions tourist Jonny Wilkinson who is named among the replacements.
Former New Zealand rugby league centre Shontayne Hape wins his first England cap in the centres alongside World Cup winner Mike Tindall, while Ben Foden retains the full back slot after his impressive showing in the final game of the Six Nations and Danny Care holds off the challenge of Ben Youngs at scrum-half.
To read more about Shontayne Hape’s inclusion, please click here
England (vs Australia in Perth, Saturday, 11am BST)
15 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
14 Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
13 Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
12 Shontayne Hape (Bath Rugby)
11 Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
10 Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
9 Danny Care (Harlequins)
1 Tim Payne (London Wasps)
2 Steve Thompson (CA Brive)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
5 Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
6 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
7 Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers) (captain)
8 Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Replacements
16 George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)
17 David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
18 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
19 James Haskell (Stade Francais)
20 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
21 Jonny Wilkinson (RC Toulon)
22 Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)
NB bold denotes Lion
