Rugby-Headaches increase for England ahead of NZ tour
* Premiership final to deprive Lancaster of many first-choice players * Injuries too mean England well below strength for first test By Josh Reich LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - What was originally tagged as a 20-man training group increasingly appears to be a potential first test squad as England coach Stuart Lancaster's woes increase ahead of next month's tour to New Zealand. Victory for Northampton and Saracens in their Premiership semi-finals on Friday and Saturday respectively has robbed Lancaster of 13 established team members for the June 7 match as they will have insufficient time to recover from the Twickenham decider seven days earlier. Props Dan Cole and Alex Corbisiero, hooker Tom Youngs, flanker Tom Croft and wings Jack Nowell and Christian Wade have already been ruled out of the tour, while fullback Mike Brown, this Six Nations player of the tournament, is an injury doubt after hurting his hamstring in Harlequin's loss to Saracens. Manu Tuilagi, Jonny May, Danny Care, Joe Launchbury and captain Chris Robshaw are certainties to start at Eden Park, but there is likely to be a decidedly green tinge in many other positions, with hooker a particular headache for Lancaster in the absence of Dylan Hartley and Youngs, who is out for personal reasons. The advance training party that assembled in London on Sunday, made up of players whose teams had missed the Premiership semis, was named with an eye on the non-cap match against the Barbarians on June 1, but many will be now hoping to skip that outing for the opening test against the All Blacks. TIMING RIDICULOUS There have been plenty of murmuring about the timing of the first test, with Northampton flanker Tom Wood calling the scheduling "ridiculous", and former international Brian Moore saying Lancaster had been let down by those putting together the international calendar. "It is apparent that whoever is picked in the first test it will be a second team in all but name," he wrote in The Daily Telegraph on Monday. "No doubt some will say that pointing this out is whinging, but what good is playing a test match in those circumstances for either team, and especially for the punters and viewers who have pair hard cash expecting to watch a genuine test?" It was a view backed by former All Black Jeff Wilson, writing for Fairfax NZ. "The first test sets up a series for the visiting side, and if you entertain any hope of beating the All Blacks, you need to catch them unawares in the opener when they're invariably not at their sharpest. "England coming without players involved in their club final gives every opportunity to beat them comprehensively, and almost take the series away before it's barely got going." WORST MATCH-UP The Premiership final match-up deprives Lancaster of Northampton's Hartley, Wood, Courtney Lawes, Lee Dickson, Stephen Myler, Luther Burrell and Ben Foden turning and Mako and Billy Vunipola, Richard Wigglesworth, Owen Farrell, Brad Barritt, Chris Ashton and Alex Goode of Saracens, who also play in the Heineken Cup final on Saturday. Most of them will expect to fly to New Zealand two days after the Premiership decider, joining the first group of players who leave on May 27 in time for the second test. With around 40 players expected to head to the southern hemisphere, it means Lancaster could have more than 60 names under consideration for the three tests and one midweek match, far from ideal as he looks to build towards next year's World Cup at home. New Zealand coach Steve Hansen has fewer problems, having named five uncapped players in an extended training squad but indicating many of them would be in the team for face England. "The England series is going to be really tough and it's about picking the best 31 guys we can and getting their combinations out there and reacquainting ourselves so we can get our game structures and skill sets back up to the high level they were at last year," he said. The only real area of concern is at hooker, with rookies Liam Coltman and Nathan Harris included in the training squad as Hansen looks for back-ups to veteran Keven Mealamu and understudy Dane Coles. (Editing by Mitch Phillips)
