This is Hartley's second year in the Saxons. For Ashton, who played for England RL while at Wigan, it is a first call-up into a representative squad.

Newcastle Falcons coach Steve Bates will head up this year’s England Saxons coaching team for the 2008 shadow Six Nations competition. He will be joined by the RFU’s National Academy coaches Graham Rowntree and Simon Hardy.

The following 32 players have been selected in the 32-man England Saxons training squad for the tournament.

England Saxons 2008 Six Nations training squad
Forwards:
Alex Brown (Gloucester Rugby)*
Richard Blaze (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Clarke (Bristol Rugby)
Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Phil Dowson (Newcastle Falcons)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Jason Hobson (Bristol Rugby)
Nick Kennedy (London Irish)
Michael Lipman (Bath Rugby)*
Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks)*
Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
David Paice (London Irish)
Tom Palmer (London Wasps)*
Andy Titterrell (Gloucester Rugby)*
Dave Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)
Ben Woods (Newcastle Falcons)

Backs:
Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)*
Anthony Allen (Gloucester Rugby)*
Delon Armitage (London Irish)
Tom Arscott (Bristol Rugby)
Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)*
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Lee Dickson (Newcastle Falcons)
Shane Geraghty (London Irish)*
Danny Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)*
Paul Hodgson (London Irish)
Ryan Lamb (Gloucester Rugby)
James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby)*
Ollie Smith (Leicester Tigers)*
Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers)*

* Indicates capped players

The England Saxons will play two fixtures against Ireland 'A' at Welford Road on Friday 1 February (kick off 7.45pm) and Italy 'A' in Sicily on Saturday 9 February (kick off 6.15pm local time).