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Marler and Launchbury withdrawn from England squad
By Ian Cameron
England have been forced to withdraw Harlequins prop Joe Marler and Wasps second row Joe Launchbury from their Guinness Six Nations training squad.
It's a significant blow for England, especially in the frontrow, with Eddie Jones' already without loosehead Mako Vunipola, who is recovering from an Achille's injury.
A statement from the RFU reads: "England duo Joe Launchbury and Joe Marler have withdrawn from the squad for the Guinness Six Nations.
"Launchbury is out through injury, with a fibia stress fracture, and Joe Marler has withdrawn for personal reasons.
"Charlie Ewels and Tom West will join the tournament squad, marking West’s first England senior call-up.
Eddie Jones’ side will meet at St. George’s Park on Wednesday, January 27th where they will begin their preparations for the Guinness Six Nations. England’s opening game is against Scotland at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday 6 February.
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Latest Comments
The England backs can't be that dumb, he has been playing on and off for the last couple of years. If they are too slow to keep up with him that's another matter.
He was the only thing stopping England from getting their arses handed to them in the Aussie game. If you can't fit a player with that skill set into an England team then they are stuffed.
Go to commentsSteve Borthwick appointment was misguided based on two flawed premises.
1. An overblown sense of the quality of the premiership rugby. The gap between the Premiership and Test rugby is enormous
2. England needed an English coach who understood English Rugby and it's traditional strengths.
SB won the premiership and was an England forward and did a great job with the Japanese forwards but neither of those qualify you as a tier 1 test manager.
Maybe Felix Jones and Aled Walter's departures are down to the fact that SB is a details man, which work at club level but at test level you need the manager to manage and let the coaches get on and do what they are employed for.
SB criticism of players is straight out of Eddie Jones playbook but his loyalty to keeping out of form players borne out of his perceived sense of betrayal as a player.
In all it doesn't stack up as the qualities needed to be a modern Test coach /Manager
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