by Amanda Little

Last updated at 14:26, Friday, 06 July 2012

Cumbrian rugby star Rob Miller has taken another step towards winning an England cap after being named in the Saxons squad for next season.

Rob Miller

Miller joins his Sale Sharks team-mates James Gaskell and Henry Thomas in the Saxons squad, and will attend a training camp at Loughborough University between August 6 and 8.

The 22-year-old, from Bothel, finished top try scorer with the Aviva Premiership outfit with 12 touchdowns last season, and emerged as a possible contender for a place on England’s three-Test summer tour of South Africa.

Miller, who rose through the ranks at Aspatria Rugby Club, has thrived as a result of his switch from fly-half to full-back.

Penrith-born England supremo Stuart Lancaster is a huge admirer of his fellow Cumbrian and watched the jet-heeled youngster on several occasions last season.

Miller’s impressive displays have played a key part in Sale’s revival and qualification for the Heineken Cup.

The former Aspatria junior already has a string of caps at Under-16, 18 and 20 levels, and played at the 2010 Under-20 Junior World Championship in Japan. He was called up as cover for England’s Saxons squad earlier this year, but missed out on the chance to play in their second-string Six Nations clash with Scotland.

Last season he was nominated for the Aviva Premiership’s Game Changer of the Season award in recognition for his inspirational performances for Sale.

Lancaster watched him score a match-winning try to secure a vital 16-9 win over Bath in April.

He then scored a brace either side of half-time in a 24-19 victory over Gloucester two weeks later to take his season’s tally to 12.

First published at 14:08, Friday, 06 July 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk