Woodward axes World Cup trio

England boss Sir Clive Woodward tonight axed three members of his World Cup-winning squad for next Sunday’s Six Nations championship opener against Italy in Rome.

Leicester flanker Neil Back, who has won 66 caps, is the highest-profile absentee but there are also no places in a 28-man squad for Saracens scrum-half Kyran Bracken or Back’s Tigers team-mate Martin Corry.