Geoff Parling: Set to start for England?

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England cut squad to 22

Leicester duo Manu Tuilagi and Toby Flood and Northampton lock Courtney Lawes are among those retained by England to prepare for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Wales at Twickenham.

Interim England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster has sent eight players back to their clubs.

Stade Français lock Tom Palmer is the biggest casualty while Leicester lock Geoff Parling looks set to make his first Test start as England look to sure up their line-out.

“We were nine from 11 in Scotland and 14 from 17 in Italy, with sleet all over the ball against a very competent Italian pack,” said forwards coach Graham Rowntree.

“Not all of it was clean so I am looking to improve our delivery and certainly the tempo at which we go about our line-out.”

Lancaster will confirm his starting line-up to face Wales on Thursday.

The below 22 players will return to Pennyhill Park on Wednesday ahead of the match with Warren Gatland’s unbeaten side.

“We’ve had a great two days of training and some difficult selection decisions with players coming back into the equation. There are some players have missed out this time but their attitude in training has been outstanding,” said interim England Head Coach.

“We will look forward to meeting again on Wednesday night with our match day 22 and finalising preparations for the game.”

England squad:

Forwards (12): Mouritz Botha, Alex Corbisiero, Dan Cole, Tom Croft, Phil Dowson, Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, Ben Morgan, Geoff Parling, Chris Robshaw, Matt Stevens, Rob Webber.

Backs (10)Chris Ashton, Brad Barritt, Lee Dickson, Owen Farrell, Toby Flood, Ben Foden, Charlie Hodgson, David Strettle, Manusamoa Tuilagi, Ben Youngs.

Players to return to their clubs: Chris Brooker (Harlequins), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Calum Clark (Northampton Saints), Paul Doran Jones (Northampton Saints), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Joe Simpson (London Wasps), Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers).