Burrell earns England recall
LUTHER BURRELL took the first significant step towards resurrecting his Test career last night when he was summoned to join the England squad ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Ireland at Twickenham. The 28-year-old Northampton centre suffered the cruellest cut of all in the build-up to the World Cup when he lost out to Sam Burgess. That contentious decision left him ‘broken’ and after being given time off by his club, he took a while to find his form again. When Eddie Jones named his first England senior squad last month, Burrell’s name was nowhere to be seen, while the less-established Ollie Devoto and Sam Hill were included. At that stage, it appeared that his prospects of an imminent international recall were remote, but now he has been called back into the Red Rose camp. Initially, Burrell is likely to take a brief part in training among an expanded squad of 32 before returning to the Saints, but it is a start. His call-up came hours after he had played in Northampton’s 26-25 defeat at Newcastle and his return to the England ranks comes a day after Burgess made his rugby league comeback for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Newcastle put aside the disappointment of having an early try ruled out to lead 20-11 at half-time, with scores from Alex Tait and Chris Harris. Andy Goode kicked 16 points for the hosts, while Northampton’s three tries came courtesy of two from Lee Dickson and one from Jamie Gibson. Tighthead prop Kieran Brookes is another Saint recalled by Jones and he has a chance of forcing his way into the match-day 23. Sale No 8 Josh Beaumont has not been included after dislocating a shoulder at Worcester on Saturday. LONDON IRISH director of rugby Tom Coventry remains confident about avoiding the drop despite watching his side fall further behind their rivals. Wins for Newcastle and Worcester left the Exiles five points from safety but Coventry said: ‘I’m an optimistic guy and all is not lost. But realistically we do have to start winning away.’ Irish outscored their opponents by two tries to one, with Topsy Ojo contributing a splendid individual try and Ofisa Treviranus also crossing. But yellow cards for David Paice and Ian Nagle allowed Gareth Steenson to kick four Exeter penalties and a conversion following Dave Lewis’s try.