England make three squad changes, including return of Manu Tuilagi

Steve Borthwick has confirmed that a 36-strong England squad – including the fit-again Manu Tuilagi – has assembled for midweek training at Twickenham ahead of the February 24 Guinness Six Nations round three match away to Scotland.

The head coach had named 20 forwards and 16 backs on February 4 in the group of 36 to prepare for the round two match versus Wales, a fixture that they won 16-14 last Saturday to go two wins from two at the start of the championship for the first time since 2019.

Borthwick went with a starting midfield of Fraser Dingwall and Henry Slade in those matches in Rome and London, but competition for places in Edinburgh will now intensify with the return of Tuilagi to the squad in place of the uncapped Oscar Beard.

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It was late December when Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson revealed that Tuilagi, a Rugby World Cup semi-final starter versus South Africa, had suffered a groin injury with a six-week rehabilitation period that would rule the 32-year old out of the selection for the opening two championship rounds with England.

Tuilagi for Beard is the only change that Borthwick has made to the 16 backs in the squad, but Ollie Lawrence and Marcus Smith have joined up with England to continue their recuperation from their respective hip and calf injuries.

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There are two changes to the group of 20 forwards that has assembled with the fit-again hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, who dropped out of contention before the end of January warm-weather camp in Girona, taking his place back from Jamie Blamire.

Another player who suffered a January injury on club duty, Leicester’s George Martin, has also been recalled with Northampton’s Tom Pearson dropping out. Martin took Ollie Chessum’s place alongside Maro Itoje in the starting line-up for the World Cup semi-final.

An RFU statement read: “36 players have assembled at Twickenham Stadium to prepare for England’s forthcoming Guinness Six Nations fixture against Scotland in Edinburgh on Saturday, February 24.

Forwards (20):
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks)
Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
Theo Dan (Saracens)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers)
Beno Obano (Bath Rugby)
Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)

Backs (16):
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Elliot Daly (Saracens)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Will Muir (Bath Rugby)
Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby)
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)

“Marcus Smith (Harlequins) and Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby) will join up with the squad to continue their rehabilitation from injury.”

England are currently in second place in the championship on eight points, two points behind the defending champions Ireland who scored bonus points wins over France and Italy.