Shaw poised for starting role

Sir Clive Woodward looks set to hand Simon Shaw the first-choice England chance that the Zurich Premiership's player of the season has spent his career craving.

London Wasps lock Shaw, 31, today leaves for England's challenging four-week tour of New Zealand and Australia with Woodward all but certain to include him in his starting line-up.

Shaw began last season trying to cope with the despair of being left out of the World Cup squad, and the England head coach has long seemed to ignore the claims of one of the Premiership's most consistent performers.

Now, with Martin Johnson retired and Ben Kay out of favour, Shaw is hoping to take his peerless Wasps form into the international arena.

He looks likely to win just the 26th cap of his eight-year England career against New Zealand at Dunedin on 12 June. His second-row partner should be Bath's Danny Grewcock, whose injury during the World Cup paved the way for Shaw to travel out to replace him in the squad and earn a winners' medal despite not playing a single minute of England's campaign.

However, Woodward said: "This tour is Simon's chance to show he is world-class. Can he step into the team and make that place his own?