Former captain Steve Borthwick, who led England in the last Six Nations championship, has been left out of the 32-man elite squad for next season announced by national team manager Martin Johnson on Thursday.
The 30-year-old Saracens lock captained the side in 20 Tests over two years until injury forced him to hand over to Lewis Moody for the final Six Nations game against France and the subsequent summer tour down under.
He is now demoted to the second-string Saxons squad where he is joined by wing Ugo Monye, centre Mathew Tait, lock Louis Deacon and hooker Lee Mears who are also discarded from the elite.
The uncapped Gloucester lock Dave Attwood takes Borthwick's place alongside the other three locks - Tom Palmer, Courtney Lawes and the evergreen 36-year-old Simon Shaw.
"Leaving Steve Borthwick out was a very hard decision," said Johnson. "He's done a fantastic job for England over the last couple of years and it's the most difficult call we've had to make.
"It is very tough on Steve but it goes to show the depth of talent we've got in that area.
"We want to build on what we've done this summer and a southern hemisphere tour that was hugely beneficial and a really positive experience for the group.
"We were able to give lots of opportunities to players and expose them to a high level of rugby."
Leicester scrum-half Ben Youngs and prop Dan Cole have been officially included among the elite after establishing themselves in the Test team during the tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Wasps' uncapped centre Dominic Waldouck has also been included at the expense of Tait along with Leeds' South-African born flanker Hendre Fourie and Gloucester prop Paul Doran-Jones.
Having taken over the captaincy from Borthwick, leading England to a 21-20 victory in the second Test against Australia in Sydney last month, Moody now looks likely to spearhead England's World Cup campaign in New Zealand next year.
England Elite squad:
Forwards: David Attwood (Gloucester), George Chuter (Leicester), Dan Cole (Leicester), Tom Croft (Leicester), Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Hendre Fourie (Leeds), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), James Haskell (Stade Francais), Courteney Lawes (Northampton), Lewis Moody (Bath), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Tim Payne (Wasps), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Steve Thompson (Leeds), David Wilson (Bath), Joe Worsley (Wasps).
Backs: Delon Armitage (London Irish), Chris Ashton (Northampton), Matt Banahan (Bath), Danny Care (Harlequins), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Toby Flood (Leicester), Ricky Flutey (Wasps), Ben Foden (Northampton), Shontayne Hape (Bath), David Strettle (Saracens), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Dominic Waldouck (Wasps), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Ben Youngs (Leicester).
England Saxons squad:
Forwards: Steffon Armitage (London Irish), Duncan Bell (Bath), Steve Borthwick (Saracens), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Jordon Crane (Leicester), Louis Deacon (Leicester), Phil Dowson (Northampton), Jon Golding (Newcastle), Lee Mears (Bath), Matt Mullan (Worcester), Luke Narraway (Gloucester), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Tom Rees (Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Andrew Saull (Saracens), Dan Ward-Smith (Wasps), Rob Webber (Wasps), Tom Wood (Northampton).
Backs: Nick Abendanon (Bath), Anthony Allen (Leicester), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Shane Geraghty (Northampton), Alex Goode (Saracens), Dan Hipkiss (Leicester), Paul Hodgson (London Irish), Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Stephen Myler (Northampton), Joe Simpson (Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), Matthew Tait (Sale Sharks), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens).
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
