Lawes to lead England against Wales
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: England head coach Eddie Jones has named his side for this weekend’s Six Nations match against Wales.
Courtney Lawes returns to the side as blind-side flank and is named captain.
Kyle Sinckler will make his 50th appearance for England. The prop made his debut against South Africa in November 2016.
Vice-captains Ellis Genge [loose-head prop] and Luke Cowan-Dickie [hooker] join him in the front row.
Maro Itoje and Charlie Ewels are named as locks. Tom Curry (vice-captain) stays at open-side flanker and Alex Dombrandt is No. 8.
Manu Tuilagi returns from injury at inside centre and vice-captain Henry Slade is outside centre. Marcus Smith is flyhalf and Harry Randall is scrumhalf.
Jack Nowell (left) and Max Malins (right) are at wing and Freddie Steward is fullback.
Ben Youngs could become England’s most-capped men’s player of all time as he is named as a finisher. Youngs equalled Jason Leonard’s record of 114 caps in England’s 33-0 win away to Italy. He made his debut in March 2010 against Scotland.
Jamie George, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Nick Isiekwe, Sam Simmonds, George Ford and Elliot Daly complete the finishers.
Jones said: “We’ve prepared very well for this game, the squad have really come together on and off the pitch.
“Wales are a good, tough side and Six Nations champions and it will make for an exciting Test match in front of a full Twickenham crowd.
“We’ve got a talented, young, hungry squad who have trained with real intensity this week. We’re ready to go at them and can’t wait to play in front of our supporters again.
“It will also be a special match with two significant milestones for Ben and Kyle, both of who have made outstanding contributions to English rugby so far in their careers. We congratulate them and we know there is more to come ahead for them.”
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Max Malins, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes (Captain), 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Ben Youngs 22 George Ford, 23 Elliot Daly.
Date: Saturday, February 26
Venue: Twickenham Stadium, London
Kick-off: 16.45 (16.45 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (FFR) & Frank Murphy (IRFU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙮 🏉
𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙢’𝙨 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 🙌An #EnglandRugbyThrowback to our 15-8 win against Wales in 1994.#ENGvWAL | @sixnationsrugby pic.twitter.com/eT5FTwFGHk
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 24, 2022
