1
George Ford one of three heavy-hitting England recalls
By Ian Cameron
George Ford is one of three big name recalls as Steve Borthwick named a 36-player England squad ahead of this weekend’s Guinness Six Nations match against Wales.
As well as the Sale Sharks 10, there's a return from injury for Tom Curry and vice-captain Courtney Lawes.
Although the fixture is threatened by the potential of strike by the Wales players, Borthwick will be aiming for the second win of his reign against a Welsh Rugby Union in crisis.
Uncapped duo Fraser Dingwall and Cadan Murley are also named in the squad, who have met up today at the Honda England Rugby Performance Centre at Pennyhill Park, Bagshot.
England will travel to Cardiff to face Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 25 February.
London Irish flyer Ollie Hassell-Collins is unavailable for selection due to a knee issue.
FULL SQUAD
FORWARDS
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 97 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 45 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 11 caps)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, 3 caps)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 15 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 45 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 74 caps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 10 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 64 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 96 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 16 caps)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 58 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 25 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 76 caps)
Jack Walker (Harlequins, 1 cap)
Jack Willis (Toulouse, 7 caps)
BACKS
Henry Arundell (London Irish, 4 caps)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 103 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
George Ford (Sale Sharks, 81 caps)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 9 caps)
Max Malins (Saracens, 16 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 14 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 53 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 19 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 19 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 9 caps)
Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 122 caps)
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Seven Springboks make World Rugby men’s 15s dream team of the year
3
The full list of 2024 World Rugby Awards winners
4
Stephen Donald weighs in on All Blacks eligibility ruling
5
Latest Comments
How about a SH type of Champions Cup? I'm not going to repeat the whole response here, but did write what I think would be good. Not only for NZ, but all of the SH. I would however love to hear your thoughts on such a competition
Go to commentsCan’t really complain about those scores. Individually, too many were off their best and went missing in big, match defining moments. Collectively, the team often looked muddled and lacked cool-headed, leadership especially in the final quarter of games. This was further compounded by a quality drop-off from the bench.
Calls for Borthwick’s dismissal have grown increasingly louder with each passing game as he has been shown to be tactically and selectively subpar. His position is now in the balance and I don’t believe he’ll be kept on unless England fix their defensive issues and beat at least one of Ireland, France or Scotland in the 6Ns, which on the latest showing looks increasingly unlikely.
Couple of returning players in Chessum and Mitchell coupled with a stronger bench, might give England fans a few reasons to remain optimistic.
Go to comments