30 Jan 2012

Waldrom called into England squad

11:49 am on 30 January 2012

The former Hurricanes and Crusaders number eight Thomas Waldrom and Bath's Matt Banahan have been added to the England rugby squad as injury cover ahead of next weekend's Six Nations opener against Scotland.

Waldrom currently plays for English club Leicester and has been called up because of a calf injury to Luke Narraway.

The 28-year-old was summoned late to the World Cup in New Zealand as injury cover but is yet to be capped.

Meanwhile, back Banahan has been summoned because of Henry Trinder's ankle problem.

Both Waldrom and Banahan were members of the England Saxons side that beat the Irish Wolfhounds 23-17 at Exeter, south-west England, when the national reserve teams met on the weekend.

Other England players ruled out of the Scotland match are centre Manu Tuilagi (calf), five-eighth Toby Flood (knee), flanker Tom Wood (foot) and lock Courtney Lawes (knee).

Acting England coach Stuart Lancaster is due to name his captain tomorrow, following the post World Cup Test retirement of former skipper Lewis Moody, with the team for the Calcutta Cup clash set to be revealed on Friday.