Big omissions as England boss trims the 'fat'

SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: England head coach Steve Borthwick has cut his squad from 36 to 29 ahead of this Sunday’s Six Nations round two match at home to Italy.

Five England squad forwards have been omitted – Ben Curry, Joe Heyes, Jonny Hill, Bevan Rodd and Sam Simmonds – along with two backs, Ben Youngs and Anthony Watson.

Curry, who was playing just his second Test match and his first since July 2021, played just over an hour of last weekend’s 23-29 Calcutta Cup defeat before giving way to Nick Isiekwe.

Youngs had come on some minutes earlier at scrumhalf for Jack van Poortvliet while Watson, who arrived into the fray on 64 minutes for Ollie Hassell-Collins, was making his first England appearance since the March 2021 loss in Dublin to Ireland.

England squad:

Forwards: Ollie Chessum, Dan Cole, Alex Dombrandt, Tom Dunn, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Nick Isiekwe, Maro Itoje, Lewis Ludlam, David Ribbans, Kyle Sinckler, Mako Vunipola, Jack Walker, Jack Willis.

Backs: Henry Arundell, Owen Farrell, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Hassell-Collins, Ollie Lawrence, Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Alex Mitchell, Henry Slade, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Manu Tuilagi, Jack van Poortvliet.

#ICYMI: England snatch one of South Africa’s 2019 World Cup winners 👇#England #SouthAfrica #Springboks #RWC2023 https://t.co/ss9nhtyb4W

— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) February 8, 2023