Miles given England Saxons lifeline (From Worcester News)

Miles given England Saxons lifeline

7:00am Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Warriors By Tom Guest, @tomguestWN #WENsport

THE long arm of the law has handed Warriors winger Miles Benjamin an England Saxons lifeline as he has been called into the squad as a replacement for the suspended Delon Armitage.

The Sixways speedster was originally overlooked for the second string England squad, but has now been added after London Irish full-back Armitage’s arrest on suspicion of assault in the early hours of Sunday morning following the Saxons’ 23-17 win over Ireland Wolfhounds.

The 23-year-old Benjamin scored five tries in two Churchill Cup appearances for the Saxons against the USA and Canada last summer and goes straight into the squad to face Scotland ‘A’ on Friday (7pm).

He joins Sixways colleague Matt Mullan, who was one of the most impressive performers against the Wolfhounds, in the Saxons set-up and they could be up against team-mate Alex Grove, who is in the Scotland ‘A’ squad.

Saxons coach Jon Callard said: “This is a great opportunity for Miles to show what he can do.”

Meanwhile, Worcester are today set to announce that Sixways has been chosen to host the final of this season’s LV= Cup.

Warriors are due to play their final game of this year’s competition when Ospreys visit for a dead-rubber on Saturday (3pm), but the city will remain involved in the tournament by playing host to the showpiece final on Sunday, March 18.

As well as having been used for the 2010 LV= Cup final between Northampton and Gloucester, Sixways also hosted last year’s Churchill Cup final when England Saxons thrashed Canada 37-6.

Elsewhere, Warriors have selected Matt Kvesic as their candidate for the new LV= breakthrough player award.

A 20-strong group of emerging stars will be whittled down to six when fans can vote for their choice at lv.com/rugby.