Te’o out as Jones names squad

England left centre Ben Te’o out of their World Cup squad after he was involved in a scuffle with a team-mate at a training camp in Italy.

Te’o lost his place to utility back Piers Francis as coach Eddie Jones sprang a few surprises in his 31-man group destined for Japan next month.

Jones included uncapped wing Ruaridh Mcconnochie, a former sevens specialist, and also gave World Cup opportunities to hooker Jack Singleton, flanker Lewis Ludlam and 32-year-old halfback Willi Heinz just 24 hours after their test debuts.

They all made their first appearances in Monday’s victory over Six Nations champion Wales. Ludlam was particularly impressive in the 33-19 win at Twickenham that prevented Wales replacing world champion New Zealand as rugby’s topranked side.

As expected, Jones left out former captain Dylan Hartley, halfback Danny Care, first five-eighth Danny Cipriani and fullback Mike Brown, the player New Zealand-born Te’o had an altercation with at a camp in Treviso last month.

Inside centre Te’o had been prominent in Jones’ team when fully fit.

Loose forward Brad Shields, another New Zealand-born player, also missed out after sustaining a foot injury at the same training camp.

Jones would not disclose the reasons behind any of the players left out of his squad, insisting that they all need to be prepared to answer the call if injuries occur.

‘‘I’m not going to go into reasons why he [Te’o] was not selected,’’ Jones said. ‘‘We have had that conversation with Ben, he understands it. Whether he agrees with us or not is another matter. He’s not in our top 31 players at the moment.’’

First five-eighth Owen Farrell captains the squad in his second World Cup. England also have the experience of prop Dan Cole, second-rower Courtney Lawes and halfback Ben Youngs, who will play in their third World Cups.