Harlequins' Will Skinner and Mike Brown are among the replacements for England Saxons' clash with Ireland A at Welford Road this Friday (7.45pm).

Leicester Tigers number eight Jordan Crane will captain Saxons in the match, being televised by Sky Sports.

Crane, who has previously led England at Under 19 and 21 levels, is one of three Tigers to feature in a starting line up that includes six capped players and has an average age of just 23.

"Jordan has captained England teams very successfully in the past," said England Saxons head coach Steve Bates.

"Playing in front of a home crowd I've got no doubt he will lead from the front which is exactly what we need. He's already made a big contribution to training and I'm confident he's the right man for the job."

The squad trained for the first time on Monday but already Bates and assistant coaches Simon Hardy and Graham Rowntree are very satisfied with their progress. "Training has gone fantastically well," said Bates.

"Having seen the strength and experience of the Ireland side we're fully prepared for a very tough but very exciting match. Their players have 150 caps between them and in likes of Shane Horgan and Alan Quinlan they have some very experienced international players.

"With several retirements after the World Cup, there are huge potential opportunities for such a young and talented side. This is a very exciting time for English rugby."

Ollie Smith has recovered from injury having played for Leicester Tigers last weekend and has been selected as vice captain. Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks) was not considered after sustaining an injury whilst on club duty last weekend, whilst James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby) was withdrawn from selection after failing to recover completely from a dead leg sustained last weekend.

Team: 15. Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)* 14. Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers)* 13. Ollie Smith (Leicester Tigers, vice captain)* 12. Shane Geraghty (London Irish)* 11. Delon Armitage (London Irish) 10. Ryan Lamb (Gloucester Rugby) 9. Lee Dickson (Newcastle Falcons) 1. Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby) 2. David Paice (London Irish) 3. Jason Hobson (Bristol Rugby) 4. Tom Palmer (London Wasps)* 5. Nick Kennedy (London Irish) 6. Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons) 7. Ben Woods (Newcastle Falcons) 8. Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers, captain) Replacements 16. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) 17. David Wilson (Newcastle Falcons) 18. George Skivington (London Wasps) 19. Will Skinner (Harlequins) 20. James Grindal (Newcastle Falcons) 21. Anthony Allen (Gloucester Rugby)* 22. Mike Brown (Harlequins)*