BREAKING: Eddie Jones names 37 man England training squad
England Head Coach Eddie Jones has announced his training squad to take part in a pre-season camp at the Lensbury Hotel later this week.
37 players will attend the three-day camp in Teddington, which begins on Saturday 5 August. Dan Cole, Owen Farrell, Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Jack Nowell, Kyle Sinckler as well as Anthony Watson will spend one day in camp while the other British & Irish Lions players have opted to remain on their summer break.
Nine players who made their debuts on England’s successful tour of Argentina in June are called up, including Tom Curry, Piers Francis, Nick Isiekwe, Alex Lozowski, Jack Maunder, Denny Solomona, Sam Underhill, Harry Williams and Mark Wilson.
Manu Tuilagi will join up with the England squad having last played for his country during the 2016 RBS 6 Nations. 18 year-old Marcus Smith (Harlequins) has also been called up having been involved in some sessions at England’s training camp in Brighton at the end of last season, as well as playing in England U20s 2017 Six Nations Grand Slam winning squad. Hooker Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby) is also named in the training squad.
The camp will involve medical checkups, functional and rugby training, planning meetings and individual reviews as England begin their preparations for the upcoming Old Mutual Wealth Series.
The seven players involved with the Lions tour who have opted to attend the camp will not train and will only take part in medical check-ups, as well as coach and strength & conditioning reviews.
The home Old Mutual Wealth Series played in November will involve three Tests against Argentina, who England beat 2-0 in June; Australia, who have lost on the previous four occasions to England; and Samoa who last played England in 2014.
Eddie Jones said: “We are at an incredibly important stage with two years to go to the Rugby World Cup in Japan and there is still a big step to make if we want to be the number one team in the world. We are going to have to be meticulous in a preparation in everything we do as we build towards Tokyo and that is why this camp is vital ahead of this season.
“The players, coaches and staff will use these three days to reconnect and ensure we are all clear on what our priorities and expectations are ahead of the Premiership season as well as the upcoming Old Mutual Wealth Series.”
Following two camps in August and September (Oxford), a final England squad will be announced on the 26 October to play in the Old Mutual Wealth Series. England will travel to Portugal for a week’s training camp at the end of October before final preparations begin at Pennyhill Park ahead of the first Test versus Argentina (11 November).
England training squad for Lensbury camp:
Forwards
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers) – Monday only*
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
Jamie George (Saracens)- Saturday only*
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
Maro Itoje (Saracens) – Saturday only*
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins) – Saturday only*
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Backs
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Nathan Earle (Saracens)
Owen Farrell (Saracens) – Saturday only*
George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
Piers Francis (Northampton Saints)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
Jack Maunder (Exeter Chiefs)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) – Monday only*
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)
Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby) – Monday only*
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
England training camps:
Sunday 24- Tuesday 26 September: training camp, Oxford
Sunday 29 October- Friday 3 November: training camp, Portugal
Old Mutual Wealth Series
Saturday 11 November: England v Argentina
Saturday 18 November: England v Australia
Saturday 25 November: England v Samoa
Comments on RugbyPass
Irish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
4 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
4 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to comments