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England squad whittled down to 36 as Vunipola to undergo operation
By PA
Billy Vunipola has undergone a minor operation on his injured knee but expects to be fit for the Rugby World Cup.
The England forward remains with a 36-player squad named by head coach Steve Borthwick for their third World Cup training camp at The Lensbury Resort in south-west London.
“The medical team are positive about my prospects and I understand exactly what needs to be done over the next few weeks,” said Vunipola.
The line-up is the same as last week’s camp with the exception of Will Joseph and Beno Obano, who both miss out. Players from Gallagher Premiership finalists Sale and Saracens have not been included.
“I’m pleased with the progress that’s been made over the last two weeks and we look forward to another productive training camp at the Lensbury,” said Borthwick.
“There’s still a long way to go until we are ready for a World Cup but each day we take another step forward.”
Ollie Chessum, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ollie Lawrence and Jack Walker all remain with their team-mates as they continue their rehabilitation from injury.
England will take on Wales in Cardiff on August 5, with Borthwick due to name his 33-strong squad for the World Cup in France two days later.
Training squad:
Backs – H Arundell (London Irish), D Care (Harlequins), J Cokanasiga (Bath), F Dingwall (Northampton), T Freeman (Northampton), J Marchant (Harlequins), J May (Gloucester), A Mitchell (Northampton), C Murley (Harlequins), G Porter (Leicester), H Slade (Exeter), F Smith (Northampton), M Smith (Harlequins), F Steward (Leicester), J Van Poortvliet (Leicester), A Watson (Leicester), B Youngs (Leicester).
Forwards – J Blamire (Newcastle), D Cole (Leicester), A Dombrandt (Harlequins), T Dunn (Bath), C Ewels (Bath), E Genge (Bristol), J Heyes (Leicester), T Hill (Bath), C Lawes (Northampton), L Ludlam (Northampton), J Marler (Harlequins), G Martin (Leicester), Z Mercer (Montpellier), T Pearson (London Irish), V Rapava-Ruskin (Gloucester), D Ribbans (Northampton), K Sinckler (Bristol), W Stuart (Bath), S Underhill (Bath).
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Latest Comments
was I right to infer that you assumed a 1:1 correspondence between points and places?
If so why were you so evasive about admitting that?
I've typed out a reply regarding the pool format but I won't send it if you don't answer my question.
Go to commentsFoster should never have been appointed, and I never liked him as a coach, but the hysteria over his coaching and Sam Cane as a player was grounded in prejudice rather than fact.
The New Zealand Rugby public were blinded by their dislike of Foster to the point of idiocy.
Anything the All Blacks did that was good was attributed to Ryan and Schmidt and Fozzie had nothing to do with it.
Any losses were solely blamed on Foster and Cane.
Foster did develop new talent and kept all the main trophies except the World Cup.
His successor kept the core of his team as well as picking Cane despite him leaving for overseas because he saw the irreplaceable value in him.
Razor will take the ABs to the next level, I have full confidence in that.
He should have been appointed in 2020.
But he wasn’t. And the guy who was has never been treated fairly.
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