Cipriani gets England recall for New Zealand tour

LONDON: Sale fly-half Danny Cipriani received his first England call-up in six years when coach Stuart Lancaster named his initial 30-man squad on Monday for next month´s three-Test tour of New Zealand.

Meanwhile Worcester full-back Chris Pennell, the son of the late England cricketer Graham Dilley, was one of seven uncapped players selected by Lancaster.Gloucester centre Henry Trinder, Leicester lock Ed Slater and the front-row quartet of Kieran Brookes, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Gray and Dave Ward complete the uncapped group.

An additional group of players for the tour will be announced following the Premiership final between Saracens and Northampton at Twickenham on Saturday.

The much-criticised timing of that fixture means players from those clubs will be unavailable for the first Test against the world champion All Blacks in Auckland on June 7 as they will have insufficient time to recover for the series opener.

Cipriani, once the golden boy of English rugby, won the last of his seven caps in 2008 but has been included in the back of a fine season at Sale, where he helped the north-west side to a sixth-placed finish in the Premiership.

Sarecens´ Owen Farrell is England´s current fly-half. Already ruled out of the first Test because of the Premiership final, doubts about his availability for the rest of the tour were raised when he damaged an ankle tripping over TV wires while warming up for the London club´s European Cup final defeat by Toulon in Cardiff on Saturday.

And George Ford, Farrell´s England deputy, has also been sidelined as he is due to undergo shoulder surgery following Bath´s 30-16 European Challenge Cup final defeat by Northampton at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday.

Meanwhile Saracens and England prop Mako Vunipola left the Millennium Stadium on crutches following star-studded French side Toulon´s 23-6 victory.

Lancaster is also sweating on the fitness of first-choice hooker Dylan Hartley, with the New Zealand-born forward struggling to be fit following a shoulder problem for the Premiership final.

Wasps back-row James Haskell has also been included for the first time since the 2013 Six Nations. (AFP)