Paul frustration complete after England snub

Henry Paul suffered a rough week or three during his initial flirtation with the union game: a rugby league legend he may have been, but he spent an embarrassing amount of time slumming it with the Bath second-string in front of two men and a dog during his brief stay on the banks of the Avon in 1996. Yesterday, the New Zealand-born cross-coder completed an equally rotten 36 hours by being omitted from the England party preparing for next weekend's Six Nations meeting with Scotland at Murrayfield.

Paul had already been dropped from the Gloucester team for tonight's Parker Pen Shield quarter-final at Kingsholm – a serious smack in the teeth for a player reputed to be earning well over £200,000 a year. "This is a very important game for us, so we have to go in with what we feel will be a winning combination," explained Paul Turner, the Gloucester backs coach, not terribly diplomatically.

When Clive Woodward, the England manager, pruned his training squad for the Calcutta Cup match, Paul's frustration was complete. Having been fast-tracked into the élite set-up before he had played a serious game for Gloucester, he must have had high hopes of making the red rose bench this season. That is still a possibility, but Charlie Hodgson's emergence as a Test-class outside-half and Mike Tindall's return to form at outside centre has put a squeeze on the midfield positions, and it now appears unlikely that Paul will be involved before the final Six Nations match in Italy on 7 April, if then.

Three other players have been omitted from the initial training squad: Phil Vickery, the Gloucester tight head, who has yet to recover from a broken hand; Declan Danaher, the London Irish loose forward, who, like Paul, has been named in a 27-strong party for the A international with the Scots in Stirling a week today; and Martin Corry, the Leicester back-rower, who has not been included anywhere.

Corry played in Dublin last October, when Ireland famously spiked England's Grand Slam ambitions, but has since been left for dead by his clubmate, Lewis Moody, and Joe Worsley of Wasps.

When Lawrence Dallaglio eventually returns from injury to challenge for a role at next year's World Cup, the pressure on places will be even greater.

Woodward will name his 22 for Edinburgh on Tuesday. One of the three hookers will have to go, and the indications are that it will not be the uncapped Steve Thompson, whose recent form for Northampton has impressed a posse of red rose selectors. Dorian West, the incumbent from Leicester, is struggling with a groin injury, and unless he plays a full part in the Heineken Cup quarter-final with Leinster at Welford Road on Sunday, he will not make the cut. If he proves his fitness, Mark Regan of Bath will probably miss out.

An exhilarating weekend of European club rugby commences this evening, with the Sale-Bristol Shield quarter-final at Heywood Road just shading the Gloucester-Ebbw Vale match for top billing.

Sale are without Pete Anglesea, their highly effective loose forward, but Alex Sanderson's return from injury means they should still prove too potent for the West Countrymen in the loose exchanges.

Dean Ryan, the Bristol coach, will not confirm his starting line-up until shortly before kick-off, but the two Argentinian half-backs, Agustin Pichot and Felipe Contepomi, are available, as are a number of players recently named in England representative squads: the tight-head prop Julian White, the second row Alex Brown, the seven-a-side specialist Phil Christophers and the under-21 centre Andrew Higgins." This game is the next step up for us," said Ryan.

Bath, meanwhile, have left a number of front-line players, including their captain, Dan Lyle, on the bench for tomorrow's Heineken Cup tie with Llanelli at the Rec.

Lyle, who missed a number of matches with hamstring trouble but has been fully fit for at least a fortnight, joins Regan, Gareth Cooper and Tom Voyce among the replacements. Mike Catt will lead the side in his absence, while Nathan Thomas occupies the No 8 berth.

In South Africa, a newspaper poll revealed support for both Francois Pienaar and Brendan Venter as the Springbok hierarchy sets about identifying a successor to Harry Viljoen, who resigned as national coach earlier this month. Pienaar, who coaches Saracens, and Venter, the player-coach at London Irish, are some way off the pace, however. Rudolf Straeuli, once of Bedford but better known for his recent work with Natal, is the clear favourite.

England Squad

(v Scotland at Murrayfield on 2 Feb): Backs: I Balshaw (Bath), K Bracken (Saracens), M Catt (Bath), B Cohen (Northampton), W Greenwood (Harlequins), A Healey (Leicester), C Hodgson (Sale), D Luger (Harlequins), M Perry (Bath), J Robinson (Sale), M Tindall (Bath), N Walshe (Saracens), J Wilkinson (Newcastle). Forwards: N Back (Leicester), D Grewcock (Bath), R Hill (Saracens), M Johnson (Leicester), B Kay (Leicester), J Leonard (Harlequins), L Moody (Leicester), M Regan (Bath), G Rowntree (Leicester), S Thompson (Northampton), D West (Leicester), J White (Bristol), J Worsley (Wasps).