Lund out in Cup cull

The World Cup dream perished

for six more England players

yesterday, victims of the first

cut in the elimination process

towards the final 30.

Sale flanker Magnus Lund

heads the initial list, an early

casualty of the ferociously

competitive back row

department which has also

claimed Gloucester openside

Andy Hazell.

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Leicester lock Louis Deacon is

the other forward to pack his

bags along with Gloucester

full back Olly Morgan, London

Irish fly half Shane Geraghty

and the ringmaster of Wasps'

famed 'blitz' defence, Fraser

Waters.

When the names were read

out, nobody will have been

more relieved than one of the

few winners left from four

years ago, Mike Tindall.

The

Gloucester centre's survival of

the initial cull grants him

precious extra time in his

valiant fight to be lining up

against South Africa in Paris on

September 14 despite having

broken a leg four months ago.

Tindall, who reported for

England training in Bath this

week, has at least another

week before head coach Brian Ashton plans to enforce the

second of his three cuts, a

staggered reduction which

will leave a total of 17 players

wondering what might have

been.

"Mike's rehab is ongoing,"

said Ashton. "There's

nothing more I can say at this

stage."

Dan Ward-Smith, the uncapped

Bristol No 8, is still hanging in

against all the odds, hoping to

make the most unlikely

comeback of the lot.

That

England still believe he could

make one or both of next

month's pre-tournament

friendlies despite not having

played since smashing a

kneecap last January says

everything about their regard

for him.

Lawrence Dallaglio, an

increasingly important figure

as senior contender for the

No 8 vacancy caused by Martin

Corry's move to lock, will use

next week to eliminate

whatever doubts remain over

his fitness following keyhole

knee surgery.

For five of an ever-changing

England Six Nations team time

has already run out.

The departure of Hazell and

Lund, breakaway flankers in

the first and second South

African Tests respectively,

points to Leicester's Lewis

Moody being cast in the World

Cup openside role alongside

the one specialist left in the

No 7 position, young Wasp Tom

Rees.

Morgan's exclusion leaves

them as thin at full back where

neither of the two remaining

candidates knows what it is like

to start a Test match.

Wasp Danny Cipriani, 19, will

win his first cap against Wales

at Twickenham on August 4.

Nick Abendanon's 22 minutes

as a substitute in Pretoria last

month make him seem almost

a veteran by comparison and

Bath's 20-year-old Anglo-

South African will join his

London rival for what amounts

to a final trial.

The departed six and Julian

White's self-imposed exile cuts

the squad from 47 to a more

manageable 40 with further

cuts to come.

"I've had a good look at

everybody in training camp

and it's important we spend

more time considering those

who'll make the 22 for the first

of the warm-up games," said

Ashton. "It has been a very

difficult decision to let the six

go. They've all worked hard

and it has been good working

with them. I'm considering a

further cut at the end of next

week's training."

As the fall-out continued over

White's decision to deal

himself out for family and

farming reasons, Premiership

champions Leicester claimed

that they take better care of

the player than England.

They cite last November's

gruelling series of Tests against

New Zealand, twice, Argentina

and South Africa when White

played in all four and rejoined

his club "battered to bits".

Leicester's acting head coach

Richard Cockerill said: "It took

us three weeks to get Julian fit

and there comes a point when

you have to do what's best for

yourself.

"I'm sure England's short-term

goals were not in the interests

of the player. We can look after

him, guarantee him a balanced

lifestyle which will help him

lengthen his playing career."

Backs: N Abendanon (Bath), O Barkley (Bath), M Catt (London Irish), D Cipriani

(Wasps), M Cueto (Sale Sharks), A Farrell (Saracens), T Flood (Newcastle), A

Gomarsall (Harlequins), D Hipkiss (Leicester), C Hodgson (Sale Sharks), J Lewsey

(Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), S Perry (Bristol), P Richards (London Irish), J

Robinson (Sale Sharks), P Sackey (Wasps), D Strettle (Harlequins), M Tait

(Newcastle), M Tindall (Gloucester), J Wilkinson (Newcastle).

Forwards: S Borthwick (Bath), G Chuter (Leicester), M Corry (Leicester), L

Dallaglio (Wasps), N Easter (Harlequins), P Freshwater (Perpignan), J Haskell

(Wasps), B Kay (Leicester), L Mears (Bath), L Moody (Leicester), T Palmer

(Wasps), T Rees (Wasps), M Regan (Bristol), S Shaw (Wasps), A Sheridan (Sale

Sharks), M Stevens (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps), D Ward-Smith (Bristol), J Worsley

(Wasps), K Yates (Saracens).