Shields injury opens door for uncapped Dombrandt

Alex Dombrandt, the Harlequins back-row forward, flew out to Italy yesterday to link up with the England training squad following an injury setback for Brad Shields.

Dombrandt was part of England’s training camp last week in Bristol, but was not originally included for this week’s camp in Treviso, a location selected to help acclimatise the players to conditions in Japan.

Shields has returned to England after suffering a foot ligament injury, according to the Rugby Football Union. The 28-year-old Wasps back-rower is set to undergo a further assessment on the injury.

The former Hurricanes player has won eight caps since making his debut on the tour of South Africa in 2018, but missed the start of this year’s Guinness Six Nations while recovering from a fractured cheekbone before featuring in games. Dombrandt is one of two uncapped back-rowers training with England, the other being Northampton’s Lewis Ludlam.

Bath’s Sam Underhill is back in training with the squad this week after doing specialised strength and conditioning work off site.

Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola and Mark Wilson make up the rest of England’s back-row contingent in camp, with head coach Eddie Jones having taken 38 players to Italy.

Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Nathan Hughes (Bristol), Zach Mercer (Bath) and Sam Simmonds (Exeter) are some of the recently capped back-row players not in the squad.

England’s camp in Treviso runs until Aug 2 before they meet up at Pennyhill Park the following week to prepare for the first of their four World Cup warm-up games, against Wales at Twickenham on Aug 11.

Jones will name his final 31-man World Cup squad on Aug 12, ahead of further warm-up matches against Wales, Ireland and Italy.