England head coach Eddie Jones has confirmed his final 31-man squad that will travel to the Rugby World Cup in Japan next month.
Saracens Owen Farrell has been named as the
captain of the side in what will be his second World Cup, while there are
experienced leaders in the squad with Ben Youngs, Dan Cole and Courtney Lawes
all heading to their third tournament.
In terms of surprises there is the inclusion
of the uncapped Ruaridh McConnochie while Ben Te’o has been overlooked.
Jones has confirmed that he wanted to let
people know if they were staying at home or heading to the World Cup earlier rather
than later and admitted he feels sorry for the players that have missed out.
“Today is another step in the progress towards the Rugby World Cup. We have taken the decision to go early because of what we learned from previous campaigns. We want the squad to know early and now we can get on and be the best prepared England side there has ever been, ready to win the World Cup. A lot of good players have missed out, we feel for them, I feel for them personally. But as we know the World Cup is an incredible tournament where opportunities can present themselves and all those players who have missed out have been told they have to be ready,” he said.
Jones has taken a couple of gambles by only bringing two scrum-halves with Willi Heinz backing-up Youngs, while he has also decided to only bring five props with him to Japan.
Brad Shields has also been omitted due to
the foot injury he sustained during the squad’s warm-weather camp in Italy a
couple of weeks’ ago. However, Exeter Chiefs’ Jack Nowell has been included in
the squad despite there being no certainty over when he will return from injury.
The 31-man squad will now face Wales on
Saturday for the second of their two games, before hosting Ireland the following
week. They will conclude their World Cup warm-ups with a clash against Italy on
September 6th before heading over to Japan for the tournament.
Check Out the Full Squad Below.
Forwards:
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 86 caps) **
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 12 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 11 caps)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 10 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 37 caps) *
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 27 caps)
George Kruis (Saracens, 32 caps) *
Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 59 caps) *
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 72
caps) **
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 58 caps) *
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 22 caps)
Jack Singleton (Saracens, 1 cap)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 9 caps)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 42 caps) *
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 53 caps) *
Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons / Sale
Sharks, 13 caps)
Backs:
Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 5 caps)
Elliot Daly (Saracens, 31 caps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 70 caps) *
George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 56 caps) *
Piers Francis (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby, 1 cap)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 41 caps) *
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 45 caps) *
Ruaridh McConnochie (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 33 caps) *
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 22 caps) *
Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 33 caps) *
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 34 caps) * Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 86 caps) **
* number of Rugby World Cup tournaments
played
