Slade's inclusion leaves fans hopeful of an England midfield revival

Henry Slade’s return to the England squad is being welcomed after missing the first two rounds of Six Nations action. 

The Exeter Chiefs centre was a mainstay of Eddie Jones’ side in 2019, either in the starting XV or from the bench, but has been recovering from a fractured ankle which he sustained in December. 

He is in the 25-man England training squad ahead of Ireland’s visit to Twickenham on February 23 alongside centre partner Manu Tuilagi, who missed the Calcutta Cup clash after suffering a recurrence of a groin injury against France the week before. 

Slade’s partnership with Tuilagi was one of the biggest breakthroughs of 2019 for Jones, and the way he was able to chop and change between those two - and other combinations with George Ford and Owen Farrell - meant the Australian always had options for whoever England were playing. 

This was most clearly shown in the World Cup where the Farrell-Tuilagi-Slade combination was used to combat a strong Australian midfield in the quarter-final, but the Ford-Farrell-Tuilagi combination was utilised a week later against the All Blacks.