Charlie Hodgson will pull on an England shirt for the first time in two years on Sunday after being named as fly-half to face the Barbarians at Twickenham. Nick Easter, the Harlequins No 8, will captain a team that includes three uncapped players in the team in the shape of Dave Attwood, the Gloucester lock, Jon Golding, the Newcastle prop, and Shontayne Hape, the Bath centre.
Martin Johnson, the England manager, is without his Leicester contingent - including incumbent captain Lewis Moody - who are involved in Saturday's Guinness Premiership final against Saracens. In the absence of Toby Flood and Jonny Wilkinson for the non-cap international, Hodgson has been given the chance to relaunch an England career that hit the buffers on the ill-fated 2008 tour to New Zealand.
The Sale No 10 was hauled off after 50 minutes of the first Test against the All Blacks and condemned by the England coaches as a defensive liability. But Johnson has been impressed by the improvements Hodgson has made in that area over the last 24 months. David Strettle, the Saracens-bound winger, also returns to the senior team for the first time since the 2008 tour, while Olly Barkley is back on the bench.
Johnson is keen to take a look at Hape, the former New Zealand rugby league international, who was a member of England's Six Nations squad but has yet to make an appearance. Johnson confirmed that Moody will captain the full 44-man squad for the five-match tour to Australia and New Zealand. "Nick will be captain on Sunday and Lewis Moody will captain the tour party to Australia," said Johnson. "We have picked a strong team. The Leicester boys play on Saturday but some guys haven't played since May 8 and some guys have had a long season - Chris Ashton [the Northampton winger] has probably played the most games so it was simple to leave him out this week.
"It is exciting to see Jon Golding playing for England, same as Dave Attwood at four and Shontayne who was around our squad in the Six Nations." * PA
