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England pick Joe Launchbury but there is no call for Manu Tuilagi
England boss Eddie Jones has recalled fit-again Joe Launchbury to his squad for next Sunday’s round two Guinness Six Nations match away to Italy in Rome, adding that Courtney Lawes has less than a 50 per cent chance of being able to play due to his ongoing concussion issue. There has also been no recall for Manu Tuilagi, who played his first rugby in eleven weeks last Sunday.
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The 30-year-old Launchbury earned the last of his 69 England caps in the December 2020 Autumn Nations Cup final versus France. He missed last year’s Six Nations with a stress fracture having been initially chosen in the original England squad for the tournament and he then suffered the complete rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament last April.
Launchbury returned to action in recent weeks with Wasps and has now been called up by England as Lewis Ludlam has a rib cartilage problem and won’t be fit to face Italy having started last Saturday versus Scotland.
Jones has yet to confirm the full make-up of his England squad to face the Italians as he was waiting on the completion of covid and medical tests after the players assembled at Pennyhill Park on Tuesday, but there was no Six Nations recall for Tuilagi.
“Just in terms of the squad we will update it fully post the medicals, the players are all coming in now given all the covid regulations etc. But just to give you one update, Joe Launchbury will come in for Lewis Ludlam who has a rib injury and will be out for the next couple of weeks,” said Jones.
“Lewis has got a bit of a rib cartilage injury and all things being equal he will be a reasonable chance to play against Wales,” explained the coach about his injured forward. Regarding the called-up Launchbury, he added: “Joe is a good Test lock. He is an outstanding mauler, he is a guy that is tough around the one-pass play around the ruck and he brings a lot of experience. At the moment experience is not something we have got a lot of.”
Injured when scoring an England try versus South Africa in November, Tuilagi played his first match since then when appearing off the bench last Sunday for the closing 30 minutes of Sale’s Gallagher Premiership win at Harlequins.
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Sale boss Alex Sanderson suggested in the aftermath that his player could perhaps do with some additional game time for his club before getting recalled to the England set-up. “Manu came through well but obviously playing in a fully-loaded international match from the start needs building up to,” he said.
On Tuilagi, Jones said on Tuesday: “We will continue to monitor his progress, continue to talk to Sale about how his training volume, his training load is going. We have got to be cognizant of the fact that he is a player over 30 now and we need him to get a bit more game time, a bit more training into him.”
Asked about the chances of Lawes being involved versus Italy, Jones continued: “Outside at this stage. He is progressing nicely, he has started lifting and running but with all these sorts of injuries the most important thing is the welfare of Courtney and unless he is able to train fully tomorrow [Wednesday] then the likelihood is being fit for Italy is less than 50 power cent.”
Reflecting on the 20-17 round one loss at Murrayfield, Jones added: “We’re disappointed by the result against Scotland, particularly given the way we played in the first 60 minutes of the game but we have drawn a line in the sand on that and we have moved onto Italy and our aim is to make sure we light up Rome this week with a really good, energetic purposeful performance to build on what we did against Scotland.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments