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Simon Shaw looking forward to "full-on" trial game

Shaw looking forward to
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Wasps lock Simon Shaw says that he is expecting a "full-on" game when England's fringe players meet in a World Cup trial match on Thursday.

Wasps lock Simon Shaw has said that he is expecting a "full-on" game when England's fringe players meet in a trial match on Thursday.

Manager Martin Johnson has separated his 45-man squad into two teams to face each other for three 20-minute periods behind closed doors at The Stoop ahead of the World Cup. However, the 41-year-old has elected against the traditional "probables versus possibles" format and will instead mix England regulars with hopefuls.

"I once played in a game like this for Wasps ahead of a final but that was pretty much the first team playing against the rest of the squad," Shaw told The Telegraph.

"This is two teams pretty much mixed up, with guys who have played for England a lot of times playing alongside guys who haven't and matching up to see how everyone goes.

"It is going to be a full-on game with a proper intensity. It is going to be incredibly tough."

The 37-year-old has won 66 England caps in his career, the first of which came in 1996.

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