Trending on RugbyPass
- 1 'Real' reason for Erasmus antics
- 2 NZ Sevens star goes viral
- 3 Nic White's Bledisloe Cup warning
- 4 Rugby Australia statement: Rassie Erasmus
- 5 What's NZ's best-ever front row?
England will be limited to selecting squads of 28 players for their Guinness Six Nations title defence in an effort to enhance coronavirus safety measures.
The Rugby Football Union has struck an agreement with Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players’ Association that enables the 28 to remain in camp for the entirety of a Test week.
It was previously customary for head coach Eddie Jones to pick an initial training squad of around 32 players that would arrive in camp on a Monday.
This would then be trimmed to a smaller group of 23 to 25 on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, enabling those not in contention to play for England that weekend to turn out for their clubs instead.
But now the larger group of 28 will be kept for the whole week to help protect the bubble environment. Last autumn, players had to be brought in from Harlequins to make up the numbers in training.
“In recognition of the challenges presented by Covid-19, Premiership Rugby, the RPA and the RFU have agreed that England will retain a 28-player squad,” an RFU statement read.
“This will reduce movement in and out of the England team environment.”
The development comes after French Rugby Federation president Bernard Laporte said players would now be tested twice a week in response to fears from the French government over Les Bleus taking part in the Six Nations.
So far France have been given clearance to play their opening match against Italy on February 6 but not for the trips to Dublin and London.
England launch their title defence against Scotland at Twickenham on the same day and will spend the first week of their build-up at St George’s Park, the Staffordshire training base used by England’s football team.
From there they will head to The Lensbury in south west London where they will be located for the remainder of the Six Nations, having been camped there for the whole of the Autumn Nations Cup.
Trans-Tasman relations under more duress Whenever there has been tension between the New Zealand and Australia unions, it hasn't ended well. The nation best placed for southern dominance With different build-ups faced by the competing nations, who are favourites for the Rugby Championship? David Havili proving All Blacks dream is alive and real More often than not, it can take a little bit of time before players really embed themselves into test rugby. Building the All Blacks around Richie Mo’unga’s Crusaders Analysis: The All Blacks are building their attack around the in-form Richie Mo'unga. TJ Perenara the new guide for integrating returning All Blacks TJ Perenara will follow a different path back into the All Blacks than Beauden Barrett and Brodie Retallick. Trending on RugbyPass
More News Mailing List
Sign up to our mailing list for a weekly digest from the wide world of rugby.
Sign Up Now