England XV name 23-man squad for Barbarians... and there's no Cipriani
England XV head coach Jim Mallinder has named his squad to begin preparations for the Quilter Cup match against the Barbarians on Sunday 2 June at Twickenham Stadium.
Crucially, Gloucester’s Danny Cipriani is not named in the experimental side, a possible indication that the mercurial playmaker could be part of Eddie Jones’ England plans for the Rugby World in Japan.
The 23 players will assemble today at the Lensbury Hotel in Teddington for a week-long camp.
Due to his inclusion in the England XV squad Marcus Smith (Harlequins) will not travel with the England U20 team to Argentina for the World Rugby U20 Championship.
Mallinder will be joined by Phil Dowson of Northampton Saints as forwards coach, Dave Walder of Newcastle as attack coach and Joe El Abd of Castres Olympique, as defence coach.
England Women will play the Barbarians Women earlier on Sunday, kicking off at 12:45pm.
England XV
Forwards
Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby)
Tom Ellis (Bath Rugby)
Ross Harrison (Sale Sharks)
Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints)
Paul Hill (Northampton Saints)
Beno Obano (Bath Rugby)
Ehren Painter (Northampton Saints)
Will Spencer (Leicester Tigers)
Elliott Stooke (Bath Rugby)
Tommy Taylor (Wasps)
Backs
Josh Bassett (Wasps)
Simon Hammersley (Newcastle Falcons)
Ben Loader (London Irish)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Piers O’Conor (Bristol Bears)
Callum Sheedy (Bristol Bears)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Ben White (Leicester Tigers)
Johnny Williams (Newcastle Falcons)
Earlier the Barbarians named their squad:
Squad: Forwards: Joe Marler (Harlequins & England), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh), John Afoa (Bristol Bears & New Zealand), Finlay Bealham (Connacht & Ireland), David Heffernan (Connacht & Ireland), Richard Hibbard (Dragons & Wales), James Horwill (Harlequins & Australia), Chris Vui (Bristol Bears & Samoa), Steven Luatua (Bristol Bears & New Zealand), Facundo Isa (Toulon & Argentina), Liam Messam (Toulon & New Zealand), Viliame Mata (Edinburgh & Fiji), Francois Louw (Bath & South Africa). Backs: Rhys Webb (Toulon & Wales), Rhodri Williams (Dragons & Wales), Colin Slade (Pau & New Zealand), Brock James (Bordeaux Begles), Mark Atkinson (Gloucester), Malakai Fekitoa (Toulon & New Zealand), Filipo Nakosi (Toulon), Taqele Naiyaravoro (Northampton Saints & Australia), Niyi Adeolokun (Connacht & Ireland), Charles Piutau (Bristol Bears & New Zealand).