Huge England snub for Quins stars

11:03am Tuesday 1st July 2008

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David Stretttle is a shock omission from the 32-strong England elite squad named by Martin Johnson today.

It is a day of bad news for Harlequins players with Nick Easter, who was forced to pull out of the England tour of New Zealand through injury, and Mike Brown also relegated to the England Saxons squad.

Easter captained England earlier this summer in their victory over the Barbarians.

The only Harlequins player to make the elite group is scrum-half Danny Care.

Elite squad: Forwards: Steve Borthwick (Saracens), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers, Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (London Wasps), Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Lee Mears (Bath Rugby), Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers), Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby), Tom Palmer (London Wasps), Tim Payne (London Wasps), Tom Rees (London Wasps), Simon Shaw (London Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Matt Stevens (Bath Rugby), Phil Vickery (London Wasps)Backs: Olly Barkley (Gloucester Rugby), Danny Care (Harlequins), Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), Riki Flutey (London Wasps), Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers), Josh Lewsey (London Wasps), Jamie Noon (Newcastle Falcons), Pete Richards (London Irish), Paul Sackey (London Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby), Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks), Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons).

Also in the 32-strong Saxons group are Quins' Tom Guest Ugo Monye and Ewell-based London Irish star Paul Hodgson.

However, most bizarrely, Quins star Will Skinner's reward for captaining England Saxons to Churchill Cup glory is to be left out altogether. Forwards: Steffon Armitage (London Irish), Richard Blaze (Leicester Tigers), Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Jack Forster (Gloucester Rugby), Tom Guest (Harlequins), Jason Hobson (Bristol Rugby) , Chris Jones (Sale Sharks), Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers), Michael Lipman (Bath Rugby), David Paice (London Irish), George Skivington (London Wasps), Andy Titterrell (Gloucester Rugby), Joe Ward (London Wasps), David Wilson (Newcastle Falcons), Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby), Joe Worsley (London Wasps)Backs: Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby), Anthony Allen (Gloucester Rugby), Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Cipriani (London Wasps), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Andy Goode (Leicester Tigers), Paul Hodgson (London Irish), Ryan Lamb (Gloucester Rugby), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Topsy Ojo (London Irish), David Strettle (Harlequins), Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby), Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps), Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks)