Age 22 Club London Irish Position Prop
Height 6ft 1in
Weight 18st 8lb Debut v Italy, 12 Feb 2011 Caps 6
New York born to an Italian-American family, Corbisiero has been busy doing a good job of understudying Sheridan and jumping above Tim Payne in the queue for the No1 jersey. Came up through England age groups and the Saxons, but opened a few eyes with his Six Nations debut in February against the much talked-about Italy front row, no doubt pleasing a family who left Naples for America in the 1950s to run a restaurant in Queens. Kept the shirt against France, Scotland and Ireland
Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Age 31 Club Sale Position Prop
Height 6ft 5in Weight 19st 9lb
Debut v Canada 13 Nov 2004 Caps 38
The reconstruction of his left shoulder last winter is the latest injury to keep Sheridan short of match practice ahead of the World Cup and follows a list which includes a dislocated shoulder, a fractured fibula, and time off after being bitten by an insect. When fit, Sheridan can wreck a scrum - ask successive Wallaby tight-head props - and be ball-carrier-in-chief. When he’s not 10%, he’s just a big, very strong, former bricklayer who plays guitar and records his own country and western music Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action images
Age 26 Club Northampton Position Full-back
Height 6ft
Weight 14st 9lb England debut v Italy, 7 Feb 2009 Caps 16
Once a frustrated scrum-half who got his first cap coming on as replacement No9 for Harry Ellis. However has since started 13 of England’s past 14 Tests at full back and is the bolted on No15 when England begin their campaign against Argentina in Dunedin, barring any repeat of those unfortunate headlines about taxi abuse. Despite a late challenge from Matt Stevens, Foden considers himself England’s musical mainstay and his off-field partner is Una Healy of the girl band, The Saturdays Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Age 21 Club Leicester Position Scrum-half
Height 5ft 10in Weight 14st 6lb
Debut v Scotland, 13 Mar 2010 Caps 12
Keyhole surgery on his left knee in June and a couple of lacklustre performances with England at the tail of the Six Nations have taken something of the gloss off a Test career that appeared to be heading for the stratosphere. Suddenly with Danny Care breaking a toe, England’s stock of match-winning scrum-halves looks a little depleted and Martin Johnson needs Youngs fit and back at his best, keeping back-rows interested while creating space outside Photograph: David Davies/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Age 24 Club Northampton Position Wing
Height 5ft 11 Weight 14st 6lb
Debut v France 20 Mar 2010 Caps 12
Nine tries in 12 Tests says it all and it’s a wonder why Chris Ashton, admittedly a difficult convert from league and Wigan, didn’t get a look in with England until the French match last year. This season he became the first English player in 97 years to score four tries in a championship match, touching down once in each quarter of the Test against Italy. With two against Wales, he now shares the record of six in a championship season with Will Greenwood and Shane Williams. However, the best of his nine was that 85-metre grinning sprint against Australia last autumn which seemed to hint at a new era for England Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Age 22 Club Northampton Position Lock/Flanker
Height 6ft 7in Weight 17st 6lb
Debut v Australia, 7 Nov 2010 Caps 9
Still only 22, it feels as though Lawes should have been around for a lot more than nine Tests. One of the more athletic locks and a handy blind-side flanker, Lawes followed two other England internationals from Northampton, Ben Cohen and Steve Thompson, in starting his rugby at the Northampton Old Scouts Club. First capped against Australia in November 2009, he was man of the series in the autumn Tests last year; remember he was the link man in that Chris Ashton try against the Australians. Unfortunately, a week after receiving the award he damaged his right knee ligaments and did not return to action until late February, missing the Six Nations Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Age 24 Club Leicester Position Prop
Height 6ft 2in Weight 18st 8lb
Debut v Wales, 6 Feb 2010 Caps 17
After loan spells with Nottingham and Bedford, being an overnight success took Dan Cole quite a while. Then he shone, making an impact after coming on as a Heineken Cup replacement for Leicester against Clermont and making his Test debut off the bench against Wales in the 2010 Six Nations. He even became the first England prop in four years to score a try against Ireland in 2010 and has shown the occasional turn of foot, especially corner-flagging in defence. Now it will be interesting to see whether Cole or Stevens gets the No3 shirt against Argentina Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Age 26 Club Bath Position Prop
Height 6ft 2in Weight 19st 2lb
Debut v Argentina, 6 Jun 2009 Caps 18
Another of those players who left Newcastle for better things. David Wilson moved to Bath in 2009 when his path was blocked by the not inconsiderable figure of Carl Hayman, once reckoned the best tight-head in the world. England’s scrum mentor Graham Rowntree had already warned that Wilson was doing his Test chances no good by staying put. Matt Stevens’s two-year ban provided a timely vacancy at the Rec, although Bath had already sounded out the man from South Shields. Wilson signed in March and was capped in June, against Argentina, Rowntree proving as good as his word Photograph: Paul Harding/Action Images
Age 27 Club London Irish Position Full-back
Height 6ft 3in Weight 14st 9lb
Debut v Pacific Islanders, 8 Nov 2008 Caps 21
After a stunning arrival on the international scene in 2008, Armitage’s career has gone slightly off the boil since Ben Foden took the No15 shirt. However, there are plenty who argue that Armitage, in addition to playing on the wing or at full back is too exciting a prospect to warm the replacements’ bench and a trial in England’s difficult mid-field, possibly wearing the No13 shirt, might have paid dividends Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Age 25 Club Northampton Position Hooker
Height 6ft 1in Weight 17st 4lb
Debut v Pacific Islanders 8 Nov 2008 Caps 29
Heading home to the land of his birth and maturing nicely after a lively couple of seasons which led him to consult a sports psychologist about his behaviour on the field. Missed any chance of making the 2007 World Cup because of a 26-week ban for eye gouging, but was turned around by a stroke of genius from his club Northampton and the coaching team led by Jim Mallinder. They made Hartley the youngest captain in the Premiership and with the job came a growing maturity, consecutive Test caps with England and a couple of successful seasons in Europe after a year down in National Division One Photograph: Paul Harding/Action Images
Age 26 Club Ricoh Black Rams Position Back-row
Height 6ft 4in Weight 17st 13lb
Debut v Wales, 17 Mar 2007 Caps 36
Along with Wilkinson and Palmer, James Haskell is prepared to risk England’s wrath - and non selection policy - by playing abroad next year, and possibly longer before the 2015 World Cup. After two seasons with cash-strapped Stade Francais, Haskell is on his way to Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and hopes to secure a Super Rugby contract before he returns to Wasps and a three-year contract starting in 2012-13. There’s no doubt that Haskell has made the best of his talents, muscling his way back into the England XV for the Six Nations and now able to play across the back-row Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Age 23 Club Wasps Position Scrum-half
Height 5ft 11in Weight 12st 12lb Caps 0
Uncapped, but with Danny Care injured, England have gone as close as possible to like-for-like, going for pace off the back of the scrum - Wasps have used Simpson on the wing a few times this season - rather than game management. Simpson would probably have figured on England’s summer tour, but hamstring problems stopped him returning to Australia, the land of his birth. He has a New Zealand mother and an English father, but moved to England in time to make his mark in age group rugby - and on the athletics track - scoring a try and being named man of the match on his England Saxons debut Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images
Age 32 Club Toulon Position Fly-half
Height 5ft 10in Weight 14st
Debut v Ireland, 4 Apr 1998 Caps 86
The fly-half who kicked that injury-time dropped goal to beat Australia 20-17 and win the world title in 2003 is back as favourite for the No10 shirt. The pragmatic view is that Jonny keeps the scoreboard ticking over, but he took a lot of stick when at the heart of poor England teams in recent years. His performances with Toulon won the French over and he knows how to win games as 1,208 Test points prove Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Age 32 Club Bath Position Hooker
Height 5ft 9in Weight 15st 6lb
Debut v Samoa 26 Nov 2005 Caps 37
Stevens’s partner in the Bath coffee house, Jika Jika, and like him just about getting back to being a regular in the England squad. After the highs of starting for the Lions in South Africa, Mears suffered the lows of slipping down the hooker rankings to below George Chuter after tearing his biceps playing against Cardiff Blues for his only senior club, Bath. Mears – from Torquay and a schoolboy at Colston’s, Bristol signed on at the Rec 14 seasons ago Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Age 33 Club Bath Position Flanker
Height 6ft 3in Weight 16st
Debut v Canada, 2 Jun 2001 Caps 67
Mad Dog is back and, if he stays fit, will captain England in New Zealand. If, though is a big word with Moody. He missed the Six Nations with knee ligament damage and limped off against Wales three weeks ago. This will be Moody’s third World Cup and there is little doubt that the switch to his captaincy coincided with the upturn in England’s fortunes and a move away from the platitudes that once greeted every poor performance Photograph: Paul Harding/Action Images
Age 30 Club Leicester Position Lock/No8
Height 6ft 6in Weight 18st 5lb
Debut v Samoa 26 Nov 2005 Caps 24
A formidable scrummager and line-out technician. And, like his boss Martin Johnson, an old boy of the Wigston club before going into the second row at Leicester, where he made his first team debut 11 seasons ago. Deacon made a name for himself as stand-in captain for the Tigers when Johnson and Co were away winning the 2003 World Cup. His England debut came two seasons later. He played in every Six Nations match in 2007, but then had back surgery on a prolapsed disc in 2008 and more back problems in 2010, which apparently left him resigned at one point to giving up rugby Photograph: Paul Harding/Action Images
Age 20 Club Leicester Position Wing/Centre
Height 6ft 1in Weight 17st 8lb
Debut v Wales, 6 Aug 2010 Caps 1
From Leicester squad player struggling to get a visa at the start of last season to a World Cup in under a year - picking up Land Rover Discovery of the Season and the Rugby Players’ Association Young Player of the Year for 2010-11 on the way - is some achievement. However Tuilagi tends to make an impression; ask Chris Ashton and Wales. The youngest of six brothers from the village of Fatausi-Fogapoa to have played for the Tigers. Four have represented Samoa, but Manu - in full Manusamoa - chose the red rose, coming through the England age groups, starting with the Under 16s, and the Saxons Photograph: Tom Jenkins/Tom Jenkins
Age 31 Club Sale Sharks Position Wing
Height 6ft Weight 14st 13lb
Debut v Canada 13 Nov 2004 Caps 52
Still maintains his try in the 2007 final against South Africa was 'good'. Another to launch his England career in style, scoring four tries in three games and has started all of England’s last 28 matches. Cueto was born in Workington, but the name comes through a Spanish grandfather. He played football for 12 years - and still supports Manchester United - before joining Sale and has been with them, through thick and thin, for a decade, scoring 70 tries in 153 Premiership matches Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Age 24 Club Bath Position Wing/Centre
Height 6ft 7in Weight 18st 3lb
Debut v Argentina 6 Jun 2009 Caps 13
The Jersey Juggernaut or England’s Jonah Lomu has quite a compilation on YouTube, including a red card for taking on half a team in his earlier days as a lock. That was before Brian Ashton spotted his potential for causing mayhem in the backs, which he’s being doing since a try-scoring debut in the non-capped match against the Barbarians in May 2009, before skittling Argentina at Old Trafford and at Salta in the foothills of the Andes. Also represented Jersey and the West of England at hockey and sports a giant tattoo of World War 2 scenes, best seen alongside that of his brother. Apparently.
Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
Age 28 Club Saracens Position Prop
Height 6ft 2in Weight 19st 2lb
Debut v New Zealand 12 Jun 2004 Caps 34
Still only 17 games back - and unbeaten - since the two-year ban after testing positive for cocaine, but Stevens’ ability to prop both sides of the scrum could be invaluable to England in New Zealand. Some say the former junior Springbok may not be as quick about the field as he was in his Bath days before the ban, but that may be the product of playing tight-head rather than on the open side and there is no doubting his contribution to the musicality of the team bus. Not many props have a background in opera as well as a BSc in politics and economics.
Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Age 32 Club Gloucester Position Centre
Height 6ft 1in Weight 16st
Debut v Ireland 5 Feb 2000 Caps 71
Been around for a bit and some think it’s beginning to show. Others say he’s never let England down. An Otley boy, he played for Yorkshire Schools and was a member as the same England 18 Group as Jonny Wilkinson. Also, with Wilkinson, Steve Thompson and Lewis Moddy, one of the survivors of 2003. Missed 2007 because of a broken leg and has would have many more caps but for ankle, foot, shoulder, eye and sundry other injuries including a lacerated liver. Rumour around Gloucester is that the Queen offered to pay if Tindall wanted his nose fixed before his wedding to Zara Phillips. He didn’t, assuming it would only get broken again. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
Age 33 Club Harlequins Position No8
Height 6ft 4in Weight 18st 5lb
Debut v Italy, 10 Feb 2007 Caps 44
Another much-travelled man before he made the England squad. After Dulwich College, he played for Old Alleynians, Nottingham Trent University and the Villagers clubs in South Africa before signing for Orrell via Rosslyn Park. However, since making his England debut just ahead of the 2007 World Cup - he scored four tries in the warm-up against Wales - he has missed only 11 of England’s 55 Tests. Thought of mainly as a rock at No8, but don’t forget the off-load for Mike Tindall’s try against Italy last Six Nations or the part Easter played in Chris Ashton’s hat-trick. Photograph: Henry Browne/Action Images
Age 28 Club Saracens Position Scrum-half
Height 5ft 9in Weight 13st 3lb
Debut v Italy 10 Feb 2008 Caps 7
Did himself few favours at Cardiff a fortnight ago, but England clearly wanted to take three scrum-halves to New Zealand, a place Wigglesworth knows well. Before coming off the bench in the first Wales match at Twickenham this month, his last cap was.in Auckland in June 2008; not a pleasant experience as Dan Carter unpicked England and the All Blacks ran in four tries. However, England clearly remember better days with the Saxons and last season’s successes with his new club Saracens. Can also play fly-half or on the wing and kicks goals with his left foot. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
Age 30 Club London Irish Position Centre
Height 6ft 1in Weight 16st
Debut v Australia, 12 Jun 2010 Caps 12
Shontayne Hape, but not Riki Flutey. Martin Johnson votes for physical presence over versatility when it comes to chosing between his Kiwi centres, although in fairness Flutey has not regained the form he showed before the Brive adventure. Hape, from Auckland, moved to union after 14 caps for the Kiwi league side and five seasons with Bradford Bulls, where he formed a partnership with Lesley Vainikolo that plundered 227 tries. Vainikolo went to Gloucester - and briefly England under Brian Ashton - while Hape signed for three years with Bath, making his England debut in Australia when he qualified by residence. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Age 37 Club Unattached Position Lock
Height 6ft 8in Weight 19st 2lb
Debut v Italy, 23 Nov 1996 Caps 67
Can now complete a bit of unfinished business in deciding what to do with the contract extension from Wasps that has been in his pocket for six months. Will he end his career with a third World Cup appearance? Might he take up Bath’s offer? Born in Nairobi and brought up in Spain, Shaw was Premiership Player of the Year as far back as 2003-04 and became the oldest player to make his Lions debut when appearing twice in South Africa in 2009. He might not go 80 minutes any longer, but Martin Johnson clearly thinks 20 minutes of Shaw can do the trick. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images
Age 33 Club Wasps Position Hooker
Height 6ft 2in Weight 18st 8lb
Debut v Scotland 2 Feb 2002 Caps 67
Another of the class of 2003 who once gave up hooking and moved to the Northampton back-row when Dylan Hartley arrived in town. Also, on surgeon’s advice, he gave up rugby completely four years ago after damaging his neck, only to get a second opinion while coaching in France. That lead to him to resume playing, first with Brive, then Leeds and next season with Wasps on a three-year contract. The gap between his 47th cap against Ireland and the 48th against Argentina - when he replaced Hartley at Old Trafford - was 38 months. Photograph: Julien Behal/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Age 25 Club Leicester Position Flanker
Height 6ft 6in Weight 16st 7lb
Debut v France, 23 Feb 2008. Caps 25
England are yet to tease the performances from Tom Croft that he gave for the Lions in South Africa two summers ago, but his athleticism is one of the key elements in making the England lineout work. With him jumping at the front, middle or back, England have at least three “banker” targets - the minimum thought necessary for Test rugby. Back in 2008 Croft was said to be the second fastest player - behind Tom Varndell - in the Leicester squad and attributes his suppleness to studying contemporary, modern and street dancing between the ages of 12 and 16 - roughly about the time he was playing at Newbury. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images
Age 32 Club Stade Francais Position Lock
Height 6ft 7in Weight 18st 3lb
Debut v USA, 16 Jun 2001 Caps 27
After spells in Kenya and in Otago, where he represented New Zealand Schools, plus time studying in - and playing Under 19 and Under 21 internationals for - Scotland, Tom Palmer’s England career did not really take off until he moved from London to Paris, where he has just had a second successful season with Stade Francais. He was first capped for England while playing for Leeds in National One, but made only eight starts for his country in nine seasons before the current run. Since coming on off the bench in Paris last year, he has started 12 of the last 13 Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
Age 26 Club Leicester Position Fly-half
Height 6ft Weight 14st 6lb
Debut v Argentina 11 Nov 2006 Caps 41
Poor performances running the show in Dublin and then Cardiff have dropped Flood down the pecking order and, in some minds, he’s back behind Jonny Wilkinson, a place he used to know well in five seasons with Wilko at Newcastle. There are even revolutionary thoughts that England could shift Flood to inside centre in an attempt to add more creativity and unpredictability to a dull mid-field. It would seem wasteful to leave on the replacements’ bench a player who so recently kicked England to victory over Australia and was named man of the match against Wales in his previous Cardiff appearance only six months ago. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images
Age 24 Club Northampton Position Back-row
Height 6ft 5in Weight 17st 2lb
Debut v Wales, 4 Feb 2010 Caps 7
Another who has sampled rugby in New Zealand before, playing with North Otago while recovering from a broken leg. He was with Worcester then, a product of their academy, before moving on to Northampton and an impressive winning debut with England against Wales last February. Tom Croft’s damaged shoulder had made space for the flanker to join Martin Johnson’s elite squad, but Wood’s seven caps since then have included six starts. Like England Test players Neil Back, Leon Lloyd, Danny Grewcock and Rob Hardwick and the Scot Jim Hamilton, Wood started his rugby at the Barkers’ Butts club near Meridan. Photograph: Paul Harding/Action Images
