England recall Vancouver victors for Japanese challenge
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Your support makes all the difference.Jim Mallinder has named the England A side he believes can complete a second win over Japanese opposition in four days in Tokyo.
No sooner had the players recovered from yesterday's 37-10 win over a Japan Select XV, than the coach revealed his hand for tomorrow's rematch against the full national side.
Only Ben Johnston, Alex Brown, Pete Anglesea and Andy Hazell remain from the starting line-up as Mallinder reverts largely to the side that beat the Unites States in the Churchill Cup final in Vancouver last weekend.
The action takes place at the National Stadium in Tokyo, with Japan expected to field much the same team. Mallinder said: "It is difficult to choose a team so soon after a game but we have stuck to the policy we have had all along on tour, which is picking a side to win the game but also to give everyone game time and an opportunity."
Eight replacements have been named as Mallinder waits on the fitness of the starting locks Alex Codling (shoulder) and Brown (neck) before finalising his bench.
Saracens are on the verge of signing the former All Blacks captain Taine Randell. The 28-year-old back-rower plays for Otago Highlanders in his native New Zealand.
Mark Sinderberry, the Saracens chief executive, said: "We've been in discussion with Taine for some time. We've been looking for someone of his ilk for a while now and he certainly will be a great signing for us. He will be a real asset to the club both on and off the field as he will be joining forces with the likes of Richard Hill and Kris Chesney in the back row."
The Wasps prop Alistair McKenzie has been banned for six weeks after pleading guilty to a doping offence.
The 21-year-old prop tested positive for ephedrine in a random drugs test after the match against Northampton on 17 May. McKenzie had taken a supplement containing the banned substance. An RFU disciplinary hearing yesterday accepted his guilty plea and imposed a suspension which will run from 23 August to 3 October.
ENGLAND A (v Japan, National Stadium, Tokyo, tomorrow, 7am): I Balshaw (Bath); M Cueto (Sale), B Johnston (Saracens), H Paul (Gloucester), J Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester); D Walder (Newcastle), M Wood (Bath); M Worsley (Harlequins), P Greening (Wasps), W Green (Wasps), A Codling (Saracens), A Brown (Gloucester), P Anglesea (Sale), A Hazell (Gloucester), H Vyvyan (capt, Newcastle). Replacements (from): O Barkley (Bath), N Hatley (London Irish), D Hyde (Leeds), C Jones (Sale), D Scarbrough (Leeds), A Sheridan (Sale), A Titterrell (Sale), P Volley (Wasps).
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