LIST | 5 England stars who were desperately unlucky to miss out on World Cup squads

Monday, 28 September 2020 at 10:57

bySteven Smith

**The Rugby World Cup is the best sporting event in the world (no arguing) and as such, it is the ultimate goal of every player that pulls on their countries jersey.**

The all-time greats who achieved that goal like Jonny Wilkinson, Dan Carter, Francois Pienaar, Brian O'Driscoll, David Campese and Jonah Lomu are easily remembered.

Here, RUCK.co.uk gives our list of five England players who were unlucky to miss out on squads down the years...

1. Luther Burrell (2015)

No other place to start. Less than a year after crossing codes, Sam Burgess was included by England coach Stuart Lancaster ahead of Luther Burrell, who missed out despite starting every game in the 2015 Six Nations.

Exeter's Henry Slade, who made his debut alongside Burgess in a World Cup warm-up against France, was also included ahead of Burrell.

Despite initially falling out with Lancaster, who had coached him since his early teens, Burrell has revealed that the pair are now friends once again.

2. Austin Healey (2003)

Sir Clive Woodward opted for three scrum-halves – Matt Dawson, Kyran Bracken and Andy Gomarsall – Healey being ignored despite his ability to play almost anywhere in the backline from scrum-half, to fly-half, to the back three.

"It's tough on Austin and I've had a long chat with him," said the England coach.

"The biggest thing everyone has got to get their minds around is that I'm not taking a squad of utility players and when we play these games and we must have the best 22 available for the key games.

"Austin has had almost a year out and although he has done very well he has not quite done enough to be selected."

Even worse for Healey, he would have been called up later in the tournament, but he was ruled out by a freak injury.

3. Luke Narraway (2011)

If not for Ancestry.co.uk, the number eight would have been at the 2011World Cup...

The powerhouse, who captained England against the Barbarians a month prior to the World Cup, vented his frustration on Twitter at the England manager's move to include 13 overseas-born players in the 45-man outfit.

The then Gloucester captain missed out to New Zealand-born Thomas Waldrom, who discovered in March he had an English grandmother and so was eligible for England.

Narraway Tweeted: "Good luck to Thomas the tank and his English nan, not-bitter much."

4. John Bentley (1999)

The unlikely star of the 1997 Lions tour, the barnstorming winger was a league player in 1995 and out in the cold come 1999. Still, you can’t help thinking his big personality might have galvanized an England team still getting used to professionalism and Clive Woodward.

Embed from Getty Images

5. Alex Goode (2019)

The fullback should have spent all summer basking in the glory of his most successful season to date: a Champions Cup and Gallagher Premiership double with Saracens, as well as the European Player of the Year gong.

Despite this incredible success, Goode was not included in England's 31-man squad for the upcoming World Cup in Japan, nor was he included in the wider training squad that was named in June.

Unlucky.