Owen Farrell will captain England during their Guinness Six Nations opener against Ireland after Eddie Jones unveiled his 35-man squad to prepare for the 2019 Championship.
Injury means Dylan Hartley – co-captain alongside Farrell in the autumn – has not been named by Jones as England head to Portugal to prepare for their opener in Dublin on 2 February.
But in better fitness news, the likes of Mako and Billy Vunipola and Joe Launchbury, who all missed the Autumn Internationals, are fit and firing and named in Jones’ group.
There are also recalls for Dan Cole, Jack Clifford and Ollie Devoto while the uncapped names included are Ollie Thorley, Ben Earl, Jack Singleton and Dan Robson – the latter the only No.9 named alongside Ben Youngs in the 35-strong party.
Jones said: “We are very happy with the squad and have a number of players who have come back from long-term injury.
Jones added on England’s priorities while in Portugal: “The first thing when we get together as a squad is to get our cohesion back. The players have been playing for their clubs with different styles and different playing philosophies, so it’s about getting them thinking about playing the England way.
“The second thing is to get our togetherness stronger to work as hard as we can to make sure we are well connected on and off the field, so Portugal is an important camp for us.”
On England’s first opponents in the tournament, he said: “Ireland are the best side in the world. They are a very well-coached and drilled side and have particular things they do well in the game. To beat Ireland, we need to compete brutally in all the contest areas of the game.”
Jones added on Hartley’s absence: “Unfortunately, Dylan won’t be available for the Ireland game so we won’t take him to Portugal but we are hopeful he will be back later in the Championship.
The squad will travel to Portugal on Wednesday 23 January to begin their preparations and a group of 25 players will depart for Dublin on Thursday 31 January.
England squad for Ireland Test:
Forwards Jack Clifford (Harlequins) Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers) Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs) Tom Curry (Sale Sharks) Ben Earl (Saracens) * Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers) Jamie George (Saracens) Nathan Hughes (Wasps) Maro Itoje (Saracens) George Kruis (Saracens) Joe Launchbury (Wasps) Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints) Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs) Brad Shields (Wasps) Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins) Jack Singleton (Worcester Warriors) * Billy Vunipola (Saracens) Mako Vunipola (Saracens) Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs) Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons) Backs Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks) Mike Brown (Harlequins) Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby) Elliot Daly (Wasps) Ollie Devoto (Exeter Chiefs) Owen Farrell (Saracens) captain George Ford (Leicester Tigers) Jonny May (Leicester Tigers) Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) Dan Robson (Wasps) * Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs) Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors) Ollie Thorley (Gloucester Rugby) * Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers) Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) *Uncapped Players unavailable due to injury Piers Francis (Northampton Saints) Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby) Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby) Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
