Fortunes vary for Red Rose’s West stars
THE West Country contingent in the England camp have had mixed fortunes with Eddie Jones opting to keep tighthead prop Will Stuart of Bath as part of his 25-player squad to prepare to face New Zealand this weekend.
Stuart, inset, has recovered from a knee injury he suffered back in early October on club duty for Bath against Saracens and looks set to go straight into the matchday 23 to face the All Blacks at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday (5.30pm KO) as one of only two tightheads still in the squad along with Bristol’s Kyle Sinckler. Meanwhile, England have confirmed that wing Joe Cokanasiga, of Bath, is unavailable for selection after suffering an ankle injury during England’s 52-13 win over Japan on Saturday.
However Exeter Chiefs’ Jack Nowell, who was withdrawn late in the day last weekend having suffered an abdominal wall injury, which led to Cokanasiga taking his place, yesterday remained in the 25-man squad which will be cut down to 23 this morning.
Northampton Saints’ Tommy Freeman remains with the squad in Cokanasiga’s absence to compete for a wing spot with Gloucester’s Jonny May.
The match is live on Amazon Prime Sport and talkSPORT. Full squad Forwards: Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 2 caps) Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 39 caps) Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 43 caps) Ellis Genge
(Bristol Bears, 41 caps) Jamie George (Saracens, 70 caps) Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 17 caps) Maro Itoje (Saracens, 60 caps) David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 1 cap) Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 16 caps) Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 54 caps) Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 23 caps) Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 66 caps) Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 72 caps) Jack Willis (unattached, 5 caps)
Backs: Owen Farrell (Saracens, 99 caps) Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 2 caps) Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 70 caps) Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 43 caps) Guy Porter (Leicester Tigers, 3 caps) Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 50 caps) Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 15 caps) Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 15 caps) Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 48 caps) Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 5 caps) Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 119 caps)