No Marcus Smith as England name latest 26-man training squad
England boss Steve Borthwick has named a 26 squad for this week’s fallow week training camp in Brighton following last Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations round three win away to Wales. The new head coach had retained a squad of 26 for last weekend’s round three game in Cardiff, the match day 23 as well as Nick Isiekwe, Cadan Murley and Joe Marchant as emergency cover.
However, in starting preparations for the March 11 Twickenham clash with France, Borthwick has now opted to release Marcus Smith to get some game time with Harlequins - he had less than a minute off the Principality Stadium bench, while Max Malins is unavailable to train due to an ankle injury and will only join up with the squad this week for rehab work.
Weekend cover players Isiekwe, Murley and Marchant are all released back to their clubs. Ben Earl and David Ribbans are the additional forwards included this week, while Tommy Freeman, George Ford and Jonny May are named in the backs - that is a first inclusion under Borthwick for May.
The currently banned Manu Tuilagi will also train with England, but he isn’t officially listed as part of the squad due to the suspension he received following his recent Gallagher Premiership red card for Sale.
Borthwick said in an RFU statement: “This week we move our training camp to Brighton as we meet up again after last weekend’s win in Cardiff. The performance against Wales was pleasing in a number of important respects. It was good to see the hard work the squad have put in on the training field reflected in a deserved and hard-won victory.
“Reduced fallow week squad numbers, injuries and our wish for some players to have valuable game time minutes with their clubs means that the squad gathered in Brighton has a slightly different feel to it. We are very pleased to welcome back Jonny May.
“The players and coaches alike are looking forward to another three days of focused training, before the full squad meets back up back at Pennyhill Park on Sunday, in anticipation of our continued preparations for the remainder of what is proving to be a magnificent Six Nations tournament”.
England training squad
Forwards (15):
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 8 caps)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 98 caps)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 3 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 12 caps)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 15 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 46 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 75 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 65 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 97 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 17 caps)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 59 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 77 caps)
Jack Walker (Harlequins, 2 caps)
Jack Willis (Toulouse, 8 caps)
BACKS (11)
Henry Arundell (London Irish, 5 caps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 104 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
George Ford (Sale Sharks, 81 caps)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 10 caps)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 72 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 54 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 20 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 10 caps)
Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers, 53 caps)
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Barnes is on the board of the RFU as referee representative. The Referees Union who wrote the letter calling for a Special General Meeting over the pay of execs/losses and more made mistakes. A symtom of a good letter is that you can stand behind every line in it as factual. While there are several good points in their letter they allowed a few ill thought out rants. This meant that the Board via Wayne Barnes can undermine the letter by focusing on the inaccuracies which weakens the real points. I'm not saying Barnes is acting untoward, he's not, he is concerned about refs showing hypocricy and he is also defending the RFU.
The Referees position is weakened simply by not being able to write a proper letter.
This is not untypical of sporting organisations and representatives at all levels.
Go to commentsYes, it will become much harder to target an opposing scrum now, which is why I think having a solid rather than dominant scrum will be enough for teams in the future. While the impact of the 30 second law is still to be fully felt, the free kick law has already had an impact. I can't imagine the Boks taking many quick taps from free kicks in the past. They would have taken a scrum to work a penalty or continue their 'slow poison' on the legs of the opposition. With that option off the table the scrum has already become less important as a weapon.
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