Jones makes three changes to his squad for South Africa
England head coach Eddie Jones has finalised selection ahead of England’s tour to South Africa next month. The updated 34-man squad has convened at Pennyhill Park today to begin their final preparations before flying to South Africa on Saturday for the three-Test series.
There are three changes to the squad. Piers Francis (Northampton Saints), Nathan Hughes (Wasps) and Jason Woodward (Gloucester Rugby) are included following the withdrawal of Cameron Redpath (knee), Ben Te’o (small repair to quad muscle) and Jack Willis (knee).
England last won a match in South Africa in 2000 and were disappointing in a 63-45 defeat to the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday.
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But head coach Jones, a former Springboks assistant who guided Japan to a stunning upset of the traditional powerhouse at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, believes his inside knowledge can make the difference.
"I probably understand the South African rugby psyche, as well as anyone, having had experiences there," he said. "And I know what they are going to be like when they play England.
"There are certain cultural issues between the two countries that provide great motivation for the South Africans.
"You have to be able to exploit that and use it in a positive way.
"How can you use their dislike of the English to create an opportunity for yourself because you know [in the first Test] at Ellis Park they will be unbelievably passionate and aggressive for the first 20 minutes.
"That creates opportunities for us. We have to be good enough to understand those opportunities and execute them."
Following the first Test on June 9, the teams meet in Bloemfontein on June 16 and Cape Town seven days later.
England squad for South Africa Tour
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Danny Cipriani (Wasps)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Elliot Daly (Wasps)
Ben Earl (Saracens) *
Nathan Earle (Saracens) *
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
Piers Francis (Northampton Saints)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs) *
Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Dan Robson (Wasps) *
Brad Shields (Hurricanes/ Wasps) *
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)
Ben Spencer (Saracens) *
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
Mark Wilson (Newcastle)
Jason Woodward (Gloucester Rugby) *
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Uncapped *
Not available for selection
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Jack Clifford (Harlequins)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
James Haskell (Wasps)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Alex Lewington (London Irish)
Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Beno Obano (Bath Rugby)
Cameron Redpath (Sale Sharks)
Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby)
Will Spencer (Worcester Warriors)
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
Jack Willis (Wasps)
Latest Comments
Brett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
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