England have named 11 Lions in a 33-man elite squad for the Six Nations.
There are no major surprises from England team manager and former Lions skipper Martin Johnson, with Charlie Hodgson, Louis Deacon and Joe Simpson the only changes to November’s original EPS party.
Hodgson, who toured New Zealand with the Lions six years ago, featured for his country in Jonny Wilkinson’s absence during the autumn internationals and is rewarded with a more permanent call up this time around.
Leicester lock Deacon comes in for the suspended Dave Attwood, while Wasps scrum-half Simpson takes the place of club-mate Dominic Waldouck.
No one makes way for Hodgson, with Johnson increasing his squad from 32 to 33 ahead of the tournament opener with Wales in Cardiff on Friday, February 4.
Lions Test star Tom Croft and Northampton second row Courtenay Lawes are included in today’s squad but temporary replacements for the injured pair will be named later this month.
Johnson’s squad, including Croft who, like Lawes, could be fit by the end of the Six Nations, includes six Lions from the 2009 tour to South Africa and five from the previous series in New Zealand.
Wasps trio Tim Payne, Simon Shaw and Joe Worsley are joined by Sale prop Andrew Sheridan in the forward pack, while Riki Flutey is the only back who starred in South Africa 19 months ago.
England skipper Lewis Moody, Leeds hooker Steve Thompson, Sale wing Mark Cueto and outside-halve Wilkinson and Hodgson all featured for the Lions in 2005.
Fellow Lions Lee Mears and Ugo Monye both missed out on selection for the EPS but have been included in a 32-man England Saxons squad.
ENGLAND ELITE PLAYER SQUAD
Forwards
George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby)
Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Hendre Fourie (Leeds Carnegie)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
James Haskell (Stade Francais)
Courtney Lawes(Northampton Saints)
Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby)
Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
Tim Payne (London Wasps)
Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
Steve Thompson (Leeds Carnegie)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
Backs
Delon Armitage (London Irish)
Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Riki Flutey (London Wasps)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Shontayne Hape (Bath Rugby)
Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
David Strettle (Saracens)
Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
ENGLANDSAXONS EPS
Forwards
Steffon Armitage (London Irish)
David Attwood (Gloucester Rugby)
Duncan Bell (Bath Rugby)
Steve Borthwick (Saracens)
Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Christian Day (Northampton Saints)
Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
James Gaskell (Sale Sharks)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors)
Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Andrew Saull (Saracens)
Dan Ward-Smith (London Wasps)
Rob Webber (London Wasps)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Backs
Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Jon Clarke (Northampton Saints)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)
Paul Hodgson (London Irish)
Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby)
Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)
Billy Twelvetrees (Leicester Tigers)
Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
NB Bold denotes Lion
