Williams stands by to fill open vacancy
EDDIE JONES will name his 45-man elite player squad for this November’s autumn inte internationals on Friday, with Leicester’s uncapped flanker Mike Williams vying for two No 7 slots with Gloucester’s Matt Kvesic and Northampton’s Teimana Harrison. The England coach has a problem with first choice opensides James Haskell (toe) and Jack Clifford (ankle) both on the long long-term injured list and a lack of depth in one of the team’s most pivotal positions. Jones is not expected to make significant changes to the provisional 45-man squad he named for a three-day training camp in London in August, with players who missed out then, including Wasps in-form pair Danny Cipriani and Christian Wade, omitted again. Zimbabwean-born Williams, fully recovered from two broken arms he suffered shortly after signing for Leicester from Worcester last season, has been in impressive form at Welford Road this year.
Normally a lock or blindside flanker, Williams could fill the No7 shirt in November that Haskell wore so impressively — and abrasively — during England’s historic summer whitewash of Australia Down Under.
Harrison, who suffered the indignity of being substituted half an hour into his debut against Australia, has made a sluggish start to the Aviva Premiership season but is still expected to feature, leaving Kvesic the most likely to miss out with Saracens Jackson Wray also expected to miss out.
Saracens injured fly-half Owen Farrell will be named, despite not featuring this season after suffering back problems, while Wasps uncapped Fijian-born No 8 Nathan Hughes will also be named for the first time.
England, unbeaten in eight games since Jones took over, face South Africa at Twickenham on November 12 before taking on Fiji, Argentina and Australia on successive weekends.