Wilson earns England call up
Newcastle Falcons Mark Wilson is in line to make his England bow next Sunday (May 31) after being named in the squad to face the Barbarians at Twickenham.
The fixture, which has become a traditional curtain raiser to England’s summer test programme since 2001, will see a strong England team face up to a Barbarians side bursting with class.
Among those already confirmed as part of the squad for the invitational are former Falcons fly half Jimmy Gopperth, former All Black Joe Rokocoko, Welsh internationals Adam Jones and Alex Cuthbert and the Aviva Premiership’s top try scorer Thomas Waldrom.
The non-capped match will provide an opportunity for those who narrowly missed out on initial selection for the 50-man training squad to press their claims as well as allowing a number of up-and-coming players to work with Lancaster and his senior coaching group.
Speaking about his call up, Wilson said: “It’s a huge privilege to be called into the England squad for the Baa Baa’s match and I am really looking forward to the week ahead, being in and around the camp and hopefully, sticking my hand up for a chance to have some involvement in the game itself.”
“I’ve been massively humbled by all the words and messages of support from family, friends, supporters and everyone else at the club and I hope I can do them all proud.”
England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “This is an exciting squad with a good mix of young players who have performed well in the Premiership this season, players on the fringes of the World Cup squad and those already selected.
“It gives us some valuable time together before the training camps begin next month to assess those who could come into the group before the World Cup and also a chance to assess those who should come into the reckoning beyond 2015.
“The Barbarians team is full of quality and experienced internationals who will play together this week against Ireland ahead of our game, so it will provide a real test for this group and we are looking forward to that challenge.”
