England blow Cowan-dickie doubt for French clash
Hooker leaves training camp for family reasons Vunipola eye injury adds to concerns for Jones
Bath hooker Tom Dunn is on standby to make his debut against France on Sunday after Luke Cowan-dickie flew home from England’s warm-weather training camp in Portugal for family reasons.
Eddie Jones, the England head coach, is also sweating over Mako Vunipola’s availability after the loosehead prop sat out training with an eye injury. Saracens hooker Jack Singleton is on standby, with Cowan-dickie’s availability for England’s opening Guinness Six Nations Championship match at the Stade de France still up in the air.
“You’re always hopeful, but family comes first,” John Mitchell, the forwards coach, said. “But we’ve got plans in place to cope with that. We’ve still got Tom Dunn and Jamie George, so we’re very fortunate to have three really good hookers.”
Vunipola was removed from training after taking a knock to his eye area. “I think it had something to do with his contact lenses,” Mitchell said. “Anything around the eye can be a little sensitive, so we took a precaution there.”
Today Jones will release at least eight players from his 34-man squad. If Exeter’s Cowan-dickie, who last week was nominated for European Player of the Year, does not return to the set-up then Dunn would come on to the bench.
The 27-year-old has featured in several training camps under Jones and played in an uncapped match against the Barbarians last year.
A late developer who worked as a labourer before gaining a professional contract at Bath, Dunn says that he has been happy to bide his time. “When you come into camp no matter what position you are, you are testing yourself against the best players,” Dunn said.
“Every time you come here, you are putting yourself up against that. I enjoy that challenge and enjoy the fact that I am going toe-to-toe with a British and Irish Lion or a nominee for European Player of the Year, so if I can stand up to the test here, it’s only going to be a positive for me.”
Asked what it would mean to make his debut, Dunn said: “All the usual buzzwords: proud, privileged, an honour. It would be a very proud day for me, my family. I am not getting ahead of myself, I don’t
know too much. I will keep training hard and do what I can to put myself in the best place.”
Jones announces his team to face France tomorrow and it is understood that he is strongly considering moving lock Courtney Lawes to blindside flanker, with Tom Curry starting at No 8 in the absence of the injured Billy Vunipola.
Switching Lawes, who is 17st, to the back row would compensate for Vunipola’s missing ballast and would be a clear indication of Jones’s desire for England to play with “brutal physicality” against a young France team. In his younger days, Lawes made a habit of targeting French fly-halves.
Lawes has started five times at blindside for England, but has played there more frequently for Northampton this season. Of greater interest would be how Curry, an openside flanker, adapts to playing at No8, where he has not played regularly since his schoolboy days. Sam Underhill would complete the back row.
With Saracens pair George Kruis and Maro Itoje in the second row, Bath’s Charlie Ewels is the prime candidate to come on to the bench.
In midfield, Jones is set to retain the same midfield combination of George Ford, Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi who started the World Cup final against South
Africa. Jones has since admitted in his autobiography that it was a mistake to play Ford ahead of Henry Slade, who has an ankle injury.
The back three are also likely to be unchanged from the World Cup final, although Anthony Watson could switch with Elliot Daly at full-back.
In Portugal, Watson was yesterday asked for the low-down on Bath team-mate Dunn, who is listed on Wikipedia as being in a “secret relationship with Beyonce”.
“He’s got the hardest – and biggest – head in world rugby, probably,” Watson said. “Have you heard of those scans that measure your fat? It shows up bright red if you have lean mass. Dunny had two bright red patches on the top of his head so he now claims he’s got an extremely muscular head. He’s like a ram, isn’t he?
“His work rate is phenomenal. He’s not going to take a backward step to anyone and I think you’ve seen that for Bath. He’s not the most explosive, but he’s not going to go backwards. If you wanted one person to run through a brick wall he’s probably the first person I’d ask.”
Of the other uncapped players, it is understood that Northampton full-back George Furbank and Bath tighthead prop Will Stuart have impressed in training and are pushing for a place in the match-day 23.