Possibly opted out , a few who are missing ?

Maybe some are on standby and have gone to South Africa.

you could have a point here, there may be a group of players who have been earmarked to step into the WC squad should there be a few injuries, especially when you consider the grand final is still to be played. the likes of crabtree, lunt and houghton may be in this group, though one doubts there are 2 hookers in that group

I've always been unsure of the selection criteria for the England Knights. I thought McNamara used this squad to build for the future of England, yet players like Ben Cockayne have been picked.

I think that is the case as Crabtree said he was going to have an op instead, but that's what I don't get. If there's a standby list, then the England Knights players aren't next in line, so why is Purtill talking about them forcing their way into the full squad? Clearly they're not going to. Which puts us back to what Sir Stan said; what exactly is the Knights squad for?