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England clarify the wait-and-see Joe Cokanasiga situation
By Liam Heagney
Kevin Sinfield has explained the England situation regarding Joe Cokanasiga, the winger who was deemed surplus to requirement in early August but is now back in the training mix in recent days.
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The 25-year-old was a starter in the opening Summer Nations Series match versus Wales on August 5, but he was excluded from the squad of 33 confirmed for the Rugby World Cup two days later.
He went back to Bath to continue his training there and has now been called back in by England and was present at Twickenham on Friday when they held their captain’s run ahead of Saturday’s final warm-up versus Fiji.
It was Thursday when England confirmed they had lost Anthony Watson for the duration of the finals and with Jonny May named to start against the Fijians, he is in pole position to fill that particular vacancy ahead of the August 28 World Rugby deadline for the final confirmation of the 33 for France 2023.
However, there are other injury concerns affecting England’s back three with Elliot Daly, a starter on successive Saturdays versus Wales and Ireland, now troubled by a knee issue. Henry Arundell, another starter in that August 12 home game versus the Welsh, is also currently unavailable with what was described on Thursday as “freak back spasm”.
This game of patience regarding the health of Daly and Arundell resulted in Cokanasiga rejoining the England squad this week and defence coach Sinfield described him as “the next one in” should another replacement be needed outside the likely May-for-Watson swap.
“Joe was in camp with us early on and did a wonderful job. At the minute until I suppose selection is confirmed and we get through tomorrow [Saturday], Joe is the next one in. He has been outstanding for us, and having him in the last couple of days has been great.”
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England have called on the services at training in the recent weeks of some players who didn’t make the World Cup squad, with May, Jonny Hill and now Cokanasiga amongst that group.
Sinfield paid tribute to the efforts this fringe has put in, setting aside their personal disappointments to ensure the chosen squad is as prepared as possible for a finals campaign commencing with the September 9 clash with Argentina in Marseille.
“They have been outstanding all of them,” he stressed. “Some of that has been the communication between Steve and the individual players as they have left camp.
“Often those conversations can be difficult but how Steve and those players involved have handled it has been exemplary and it’s great to see some of them back.
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“I’ve missed working with Joe and there are a number of others that have come back in. They are helping prepare the team for what is to come, which should never be forgotten.”
