England Announce Autumn Internationals Squad - New names in the Middle!

Stuart Lancaster named his 34-man squad last week, ahead of the Autumn Test series which begins on the 2nd of December against Australia at Twickenham.

The England Coach has named three uncapped centres in his squad; Saracens’ Joel Tomkins, Gloucester’s Henry Trinder and Northampton’s Luther Burrell who have all been called up to cover for the injured Manu Tuilagi and Brad Barritt.

The three young centres will join Gloucester’s Billy Twelvetrees and Bath’s Kyle Eastmond, who are the only other midfield backs currently in the elite squad. However, neither of the pair could be said to be much more experienced, sharing only nine caps between them.

With less than two weeks to go until the International series begins and with the 2015 Rugby World Cup under two years away, Lancaster will be looking to bring through talent, of course, but not so abruptly.

Although Lancaster told the Independent that “one man’s injury is another’s opportunity”, such an vast absence of experience in midfield is a worrying prospect; particularly as Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith will be lining up on the opposite side of the pitch for the All Blacks, when the teams clash on the 16th of November.

Of the three uncapped centres Rugby League convert Joel Tomkins looks favourite to step into the ‘large’ whole left at outside centre by Manu Tuilagi, as he suffers from a chest problem.

Although Tomkins does not have the same edge-of-the-seat star quality of Trinder, he is a powerful running, strong tackling, offloading centre who looks set to be the most solid choice in imdfield.

Exeter flanker Tom Johnson is another debutant who has called up to the squad in cover of the injured Leicester and Lions flanker Tom Croft.

A surprise selection – for injury reasons rather than experience – is the inclusion of Lions prop Alex Corbisiero, who, despite looking doubtful with a knee problem, was included in the squad.

Lancaster told the BBC that Alex faces “a couple of weeks” of rehab, but he is not ruled out of the Australia opener on the 2nd.

He went on to add that "he's not out of the series by any stretch of the imagination. Everyone is optimistically hoping he will come through and be available for some if not all the games.

"Long term it's obviously something he's struggling with, but we're optimistic that with good management - and his club Northampton have been excellent - we'll see him through beyond 2015.

"We're still quite a way away from the Australia game. We'll give him plenty of time but we'll do what's right for Alex."

Luckinly for England, unlike the centres, prop is a position that is pretty well covered. Should Corbisiero not start the Australia game, Mako Vunipola of Saracens should be set to fill the role ahead of Harlequins’ Joe Marler.

Vunipola, whose brother Billy is also in the squad, represented the Lions with Corbisiero earlier this year; however, he had a tough time of it when he started the second test of the series.

Vunipola was dominated by the Australian front row, which turned out to be one of the contributing factors to the Wallaby victory that night.

Corbisiero, on the other hand, was one of the tour’s standout players, particularly in the third and final test. He dominated the Wallabies at scrum time and managed to burrow his way over the line for the first try of the game – an all-round great performance.

His absence on the 2nd against that all-to familiar Australian front row would be a bitter blow to the red rose men.

Full England squad:

Forwards (17):

Props: Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath Rugby) Hookers: Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers). Locks: David Attwood (Bath Rugby), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers), Back-rows: Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs), Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby), Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints).

Backs (17):

Back three: Chris Ashton (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Alex Goode (Saracens), Christian Wade (London Wasps), Marland Yarde (London Irish) Centres: Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints), Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby), Henry Trinder (Gloucester Rugby), Joel Tomkins (Saracens), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby) Fly-halves: Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers) Scrum-halves: Danny Care (Harlequins), Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).