England manager Martin Johnson has thrown a few surprises into his 45-strong Preliminary Training Squad for the Rugby World Cup.
The former British and Irish Lion captain has included New Zealand-born Thomas Waldrom, South African-born Mouritz Botha and Samoan-born Manu Tuilagi in his squad.
Leicester Tigers No 8 Waldrom, who played against new squad mates Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Stevens for Wellingtonwhen they faced the 2005 British & Irish Lions, was born in Lower Huttin New Zealandand discovered his English qualification last season when he learned his grandmother had been born here. He joins fellow New Zealand-born converts Shontayne Hape. Rikki Flutey and Dylan Hartley in the 45-man squad.
His Tigers team mate Tuilagi has played for Englandthrough the age-grade teams and could find himself playing at the same World Cup tournament as his two elder brothers, Alesana and Henry, who are in the Samoan squad.
English Premiership champions Saracens have provided another of the overseas converts to the squad in giant lock Botha. Born in Vryheid, South Africa, he qualifies on residency grounds having played in England, at Bedford and Saracens, since 2006.
He is one of three South-Africa-born players in the squad, joining fellow Saracen and Lions tourist Matt Stevens and Hendre Fourie. Stevens helped the England Saxons to win the Churchill Cup last weekend, a triumph that saw Botha and Gloucesterwing Charlie Sharples gain promotion to the World Cup training squad.
England Team Manager Martin Johnson said: “Every one of these players has the chance to be in that final 30 going to New Zealand. The camp is going to be intense and competitive, as you would expect leading up to a World Cup, but all the players are ready for it.
“We have guys such as Lewis, Jonny and Mike Tindall who have been in this situation before but also a lot of players who won’t have experienced a World Cup training camp. It’s now up to all of them to set down their marker over the next 10 weeks before we head to New Zealand.”
Forwards (25)
Mouritz Botha (Saracens)
George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
Paul Doran-Jones (Northampton Saints)
Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Hendre Fourie (Sale Sharks)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
James Haskell (Unattached)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby)
Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
Tim Payne (London Wasps)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
Matt Stevens (Saracens)
Steve Thompson (London Wasps)
Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
Backs (20)
Delon Armitage (London Irish)
Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
Danny Care (Harelquins)
Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Riki Flutey (London Wasps)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Shontayne Hape (London Irish)
Charlie Hodgson (Saracens)
Ugo Monye (Harelequins)
Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby)
David Strettle (Saracens)
Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
* The final 30-man squad will be announced on Monday, August 22
