England coach makes 11 changes - Sport in brief - Evening Standard
       

England coach makes 11 changes

Mike Catt will captain an England side showing 11 changes from the team that crushed Wales for Saturday's World Cup warm-up clash against France at Twickenham.

Only scrum-half Shaun Perry, prop Andrew Sheridan, hooker Mark Regan and lock Simon Shaw are retained following their 62-5 success.

England head coach Brian Ashton will make final checks on several players before announcing his 30-man World Cup squad in Bath next Tuesday.

However, the World Cup hopes of Mike Tindall and Charlie Hodgson could well be over after they were overlooked for the second successive week.

Number eight Lawrence Dallaglio, though, will make a first England start for more than three years, packing down in the back-row alongside his Wasps colleague James Haskell and Leicester's Lewis Moody.

Bath's Olly Barkley is handed the number 10 shirt ahead of Hodgson, who has not played since suffering a serious knee injury while on England duty against South Africa last November.

Tindall, meanwhile, continues his battle to recover from a broken leg sustained on club duty in April, but Newcastle centre Jamie Noon's appearance at outside centre suggests Tindall might have run out of time.

Elsewhere, there is an opportunity for Bath prospect Nick Abendanon to press his claims for one of the back-three positions. He will start at 15, with the wing positions filled by Wasps pair Paul Sackey and Josh Lewsey.

A powerful England bench includes Jonny Wilkinson, Phil Vickery, Martin Corry and Joe Worsley, while there is also an opportunity for talented Wasps youngster Danny Cipriani.

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