Injury forces Eddie's hand
INJURY UPDATE: England have been forced to revise their squad following an injury setback.
England have added uncapped 30-year-old Bath lock, Josh McNally, to the 34-strong squad originally announced last Thursday by Eddie Jones
McNally’s inclusion comes after uncapped Newcastle second-row Sean Robinson picked up a knee ligament injury in training that is still being assessed.
It is the second change to the squad, who are currently on their first training camp leading into the three-game series which kicks off on June 27.
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Gloucester’s Jack Singleton, the previously capped hooker part of the 2019 World Cup squad, withdrew from the week-long camp before it started this week as he was forced to self-isolate following a close contact notification NHS app.
That resulted in Wasps’ Gabriel Oghre being called up to the squad, a decision to took to 22 the number of uncapped Test level players that Jones was working with and that figure now stays the same with the like-for-like swap of the uncapped McNally for Robinson.
AN RFU squad update on Wednesday read: “Sean Robinson has withdrawn from the England squad with an MCL knee injury sustained in training. He will undergo further assessment this week but will be unavailable for the rest of the summer series.
“Josh McNally has been called up and has joined the rest of the squad at The Lensbury, Teddington, where they are based for a training camp until Friday.
“Eddie Jones’ side will reconvene on Sunday ahead of the following weekend’s England A v Scotland A game at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Leicester [Sunday, June 27]. They will then play two Test matches at Twickenham Stadium – against the USA [Sunday, July 4] and Canada [Saturday, July 10].”
Newcastle had the biggest representation of the seven clubs – forwards Jamie Blamire, Callum Chick, Trevor Davison and Robinson along with flying winger Adam Radwan – that originally provided the 21 uncapped players in the summer series training squad, something that greatly pleased England boss Jones.
“It’s the quality of players,” he enthused.
“Dean [Richards] has got an uncanny eye to pick out talent and they usually come through the unusual pathways, not the usual way with [England] 16s, 18s, the 20s. They usually come through a more diverged pathway and he has got an eye for that talent. They have played consistently well and they are being rewarded for their performances.”
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