Six Bath Rugby players have been named by England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster in the 65-man Elite Player Squad it was announced today.
Dave Attwood and Kyle Eastmond step-up into the 33-man Senior EPS, joining teammate David Wilson, whilst Rob Webber, George Ford and Jonathan Joseph are all selected for the England Saxons.
Attwood and Eastmond both shone for Bath last season and on England's successful tour of Argentina this summer and have seen their efforts rewarded. They join four other newcomers to the squad – Matt Kvesic (Gloucester), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Christian Wade (London Wasps) and Marland Yarde (London Irish).
Head Coach Lancaster said: "This was the toughest EPS selection we've had to make with fierce competition for places in every area of the squad after an excellent summer for England players at all levels.
"Christian Wade and Marland Yarde brought their outstanding Aviva Premiership form to the tour, Kyle Eastmond showed the potential he has and by including him in the squad we get a chance to work with him some more as we build towards the QBE Internationals. Up front Dave Attwood adds a physical presence to the second row and in Matt Kvesic and Billy Vunipola we have young back row players who will challenge our more established back row players hard."
"Unfortunately we can only have 33 in the Senior EPS but those who just missed out have plenty to offer. They are still very much in the international picture and there is flexibility built into the system that facilitates that."
There are first England Saxons call-ups for Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), one of the 2013 Junior World Championship winners, and Luke Wallace (Harlequins) and the squad also includes the return of 2007 World Cup finalist Mathew Tait (Leicester Tigers).
"The task for all of them and those in the Saxons is to be in peak form and pushing for places in the team for the QBE Internationals against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand in November. We very much see this as a 65-man squad and we regularly see players pushing into the Squad and the team from the Saxons. Form and fitness will be the deciding factor in November."
Both squads will meet at Loughborough later this month for a three-day training camp and the senior squad reconvenes a fortnight before facing Australia on November 2. The Saxons are due to face the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds and Scotland A early in 2014.
ENGLAND SENIOR EPS (33)
Forwards
David Attwood (Bath Rugby)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Launchbury (London Wasps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Backs
Chris Ashton (Saracens)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby)
Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)
Christian Wade (London Wasps)
Marland Yarde (London Irish)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
ENGLAND SAXONS EPS (32)
Forwards
Calum Clark (Northampton Saints)
Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Paul Doran Jones (Harlequins)
Will Fraser (Saracens)
James Haskell (London Wasps)
Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs)
Graham Kitchener (Leicester Tigers)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Kearnan Myall (London Wasps)
David Paice (London Irish)
George Robson (Harlequins)
Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers)
Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks)
Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)
Luke Wallace (Harlequins)
Rob Webber (Bath Rugby)
Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)
Backs
Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)
Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints)
Elliot Daly (London Wasps)
George Ford (Bath Rugby)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
David Strettle (Saracens)
Mathew Tait (Leicester Tigers)
Joel Tomkins (Saracens)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
