England call up 'year-end reinforcements'

Bath flanker Ted Hill, Sale Sharks flyhalf George Ford and Northampton lock Alex Coles have been added to England’s 36-player squad ahead of the year-end Tests.

England open their campaign against the All Blacks at Twickenham, next Saturday.

Hill’s call-up comes on the back of a try-scoring, Player of the Match display for Bath in their thumping 40-13 win over Sale Sharks at The Rec and gives the 25-year-old former Worcester player hope that he might add to his two caps in the month ahead.

While Ford did not play for Sale at the weekend, he has now recovered from the torn quad muscle injury that has sidelined him since round two of the Premiership.

Coles, meanwhile, returned from injury in Northampton’s clash at Bristol on Friday, captaining the side in the Premiership for the first time.

Tom Roebuck (Sale), Charlie Ewels (Bath), and Ollie Chessum (Leicester) have been released from Steve Borthwick’s squad.

Chessum is awaiting further assessment on a knee injury, while Ewels is currently following return-to-play protocols.

No reason was given for Roebuck’s withdrawal in the press release issued by England Rugby on Sunday.

England’s updated 36-man squad

Forwards: Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens),
Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Ted Hill (Bath), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Joe Marler (Harlequins), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Will Stuart (Bath), Sam Underhill (Bath).

Backs: Elliot Daly (Saracens), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers).