England head coach Eddie Jones has named his squad to begin preparations for the side’s first match of the NatWest 6 Nations against Italy in Rome (Sunday 4 February 3pm KO GMT).
Jones has included 8 uncapped players in the squad, while there are a total of 898 caps among the other 27 names. Following the 6 week ban for Quins prop Joe Marler his 21 year old team mate and also a prop, Lewis Boyce, is included. This is his first season with Quins following his move from Yorkshire Carnegie, but he has plenty of pedigree already having won the 2016 U20 World Cup!
Alec Hepburn of Exeter Chiefs also gets his first call up to the senior squad. Back Nathan Earle (Falcons) and Harry Mallinder (Saints) are also included after having toured Argentina with England last year.
“I have selected the strongest available squad to prepare for our opening match against Italy,” said Jones.
“It is important we start the tournament well and we will spend the next two weeks training smart and really fine-tuning our game plan for the Italy match next month.
“I am expecting a really positive training camp in Portugal and while we have a few players unavailable through injury or suspension, it has provided opportunity for others who will be desperate to be involved in the Italy game.”
Backs
Full backs
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Nathan Earle (Saracens) *
Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints) *
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)
Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Inside backs
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins) * **
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Forwards
Back five
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) *
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby) *
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Front row
Lewis Boyce (Harlequins) *
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby) *
Jamie George (Saracens)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs) *
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
