No room for Paul on Woodward's list

England named 50 players yesterday for their autumn treble against the southern hemisphere and found room for almost everyone except their £1million capture from rugby league, Henry Paul.

His conspicuous absence from the first training squad of the season amounts to Clive Woodward's public admission of Paul's struggle to make an impact since the England coach head-hunted the New Zealander for the World Cup next year.

Despite rushing him into a premature debut during the fateful Six Nations defeat in Paris last season, England have decided that Paul does not justify a place within their half-century elite. He has never been lower in the national ratings during the 10 months since crossing the Rubicon from the Bradford Bulls to Gloucester.

Three other members of last season's Six Nations cast have failed to make the cut. Tim Stimpson has discovered for the umpteenth time that winning European Cups for Leicester does not give him immunity from the cold shoulder, while Wasps hooker Phil Greening, banished after the Grand Slam failure in Dublin last October, is still on the outside looking in. The other missing person, 20-year-old Nick Duncombe, at least has time on his side.

Paul, though, remains the highestprofile casualty. A New Zealand rugby league player with a Cumbrian grandfather, he had been earmarked as the long-term solution at outside centre. Instead, he finds himself behind a long list of midfield candidates.

It is a mixture of old and new, with Mike Catt back six months after a shoulder operation. He takes his place alongside the uncapped Leicester 20-year-old Ollie Smith as well as Paul's Gloucester colleague James Simpson-Daniel, whose Test debut should be only a question of when and where, outside centre or wing.