Eddie Jones gives update on Daly's absence from England squad to face Barbarians
Eddie Jones has issued an update on why Elliot Daly has been omitted from the 32-man England training squad for Sunday’s clash with the Barbarians. The Saracens back was part of last week's three-day 26-man camp but wasn't chosen in this week's match week squad.
No reason was initially given by the Rugby Football Union for the absence of Daly when the England squad was announced via email at 10am on Tuesday morning. However, Jones provided a lunchtime update on what had gone on. “Elliot has had a bump on his leg – I was speaking to him this morning – for a good period of time,” said Jones.
“It hasn’t really worried him and he has been able to train. We’re not sure what is wrong so we are going to get some tests done and we’ll wait and see what the answer is.
“I’d rather not say which part of his leg, let’s just wait and see. We’ll do all the various tests and he will see a consultant and then we’ll have a pretty good idea of where he’s at.”
While Daily won't play any part in the curtain-raiser to England’s autumn schedule, Piers Francis is back having recovered from coronavirus.
Francis was picked in Jones’ first squad since the Six Nations earlier this month but was forced to withdraw and self-isolate after testing positive for Covid-19 as a result of playing Sale on September 29.
Tom de Glanville’s hopes of making his England debut in the non-cap international at Twickenham have been dashed following his omission from the 32 who will gather at their training base in south-west London.
“This is an important game for us and we’re looking forward to getting back to Twickenham and playing rugby,” Jones said.
“We’ve had two really good camps, going back to basics and how we want to play. The Barbarians squad has a rich blend of talent, so this week we’ll be testing ourselves under pressure and looking to take our game to the next level.”
ENGLAND SQUAD (v Barbarians)
Backs: A Crossdale (Saracens), F Dingwall (Northampton Saints), O Farrell (Saracens), G Ford (Leicester Tigers), P Francis (Northampton Saints), G Furbank (Northampton Saints), W Heinz (Gloucester Rugby), J Joseph (Bath Rugby), O Lawrence (Worcester Warriors), J Marchant (Harlequins), J May (Gloucester Rugby), A Mitchell (Northampton Saints), O Thorley (Gloucester Rugby), A Watson (Bath Rugby), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Forwards: T Curry (Sale Sharks), A Dombrandt (Harlequins), T Dunn (Bath Rugby), C Ewels (Bath Rugby), E Genge (Leicester Tigers), J George (Saracens), J Heyes (Leicester Tigers), T Hill (Worcester Warriors), M Itoje (Saracens), A Moon (Northampton Saints), B Obano (Bath Rugby), D Ribbans (Northampton Saints), W Stuart (Bath Rugby), S Underhill (Bath Rugby), B Vunipola (Saracens), M Vunipola (Saracens), M Wilson (Newcastle Falcons).
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Looking forward to Canterbury's game. Great line up. Isaac Hutchinson at 15 has had a stunning first season for Canterbury. Another of other promising players introduced this year. 100 game Mitchell Drummond at halfback in great form last week.
Go to commentsIn order to have a fairer comparison you need to include the European Champions Cup game minutes played. Without them the SRP numbers are relatively overstated. I probably would also include Challenge Cup knock out stages minutes as well. For a number of clubs in the North these are the key games, not just the league, and the high profile players play in most of them if fit.
My other caveat on the piece, which was very interesting, is a feeling that the underlying assumption is that the international game has to be presented with "fresh" players and thus the next tier down has to accommodate to this. I would challenge this. The growth markets are club/provincial competitions and Test rugby needs to capped at a maximum of 10 or 11 games per team per season/year. Otherwise you don't have enough time to deliver a strong enough narrative in markets where rugby has many competitors and there is nowhere for franchise teams from emerging markets ( Spain , Georgia, Fiji, Chile etc.) to develop experience and depth - eventually being able to compete properly at RWC etc.
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