Danny Cipriani named as full-back in squad for England vs Barbarians as Nathan Hughes returns from injury

Gloucester-bound fly-half is listed among the wings and full-backs for Sunday's non-test match against the Barbarians as one of five Wasps players called up

Danny Cipriani looks set to be used at full-back for England against the Barbarians (Getty)

Danny Cipriani looks destined for another international run-out at full-back, despite plying his trade at Wasps in the No 10 shirt, after Eddie Jones drafted in players from the two defeated Premiership semi-finalists for this weekend’s game with the Barbarians.

Three years after his last England appearance, Cipriani looks poised to play some part in Sunday’s Twickenham encounter, although he will have to wait for his 15th cap given that the Quilter Cup match is a non-test fixture.

On the same day as the Rugby Football Union announced the departure of defence coach Paul Gustard – who will take over as Harlequins head of rugby on 1 July following the three-test tour of South Africa – Jones announced a 35-man squad that will prepare to take on invitational side the Barbarians.

Cipriani was initially named in the squad that will face the Springboks as an ‘inside back’, suggesting that Jones plans on using him at a fly-half, but this latest squad update sees the Gloucester-bound player among the ‘full backs’ that contains players more familiar to the No 15 shirt and the wing. Cipriani has of course played full-back for both club and country in the past, most notably in his last appearance in a 2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up match under Jones’ predecessor Stuart Lancaster, but he has played at No 10 ever since.

He is one of five Wasps players that join the squad after Saturday’s 57-33 Premiership semi-final defeat by Saracens, with Joe Launchbury, Dan Robson, Elliot Daly and fit-again Nathan Hughes also called up, along with Newcastle flanker Mark Wilson after the Falcons’ 36-5 loss to the Exeter Chiefs. For Hughes, it is his first recall since suffering a knee injury in March while competing in the Six Nations, and although his return comes as another boost for Jones’ back-row options, he will need to get game time under his belt having looked severely undercooked at the weekend.

Another Wasps player who is left out of the squad is the uncapped flanker Jack Willis after he suffered a nasty-looking knee injury after being tackled legally by England captain Owen Farrell on Saturday, with Wasps fearing that the injury could keep him out of the start of next season.

Jones meanwhile is on the lookout for a new defence coach after Gustard was unveiled as the new Harlequins head of rugby on Monday, with the Premiership club still set to name a general manager to work alongside the England defence coach. After Quins reached an agreement with the RFU to release the 42-year-old from his contract at the end of next month, a recruitment process has begun to find his successor, although the impact on the squad remains to be seen with Jones set to be without both an attack and defence coach.

Jones gave Gustard his full blessing to join Harlequins (Getty)

Having finished the Six Nations in fifth earlier in the year – England’s worst result in 31 years – Jones accepted that he needed to draft in assistance to handle the attack, with former Australia coach Scott Wisemantel drafted in for a short-term stint while on tour, and now has to find a replacement for Gustard fewer than 16 months out from the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Jones will still take Gustard to South Africa in order to give the recruitment process the time it needs to find the right person for the job, and he gave him his full blessing to seize the opportunity with Harlequins. “I wish Gussy all the best at Quins. He is a talented young English coach and a very good choice for the role. He has made a big contribution to the England coaching team as our defence coach and I’m happy that he has this opportunity to develop and prove himself in a head of rugby role."

England squad vs Barbarians

Backs

Full backs: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Cipriani (Wasps), Joe Cokanasiga (London Irish), Elliot Daly (Wasps) **Wednesday, Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks), Jason Woodward (Gloucester Rugby)*.

Inside backs: George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Piers Francis (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Worcester Warriors) *, Cameron Redpath (Sale Sharks) *, Dan Robson (Wasps) *, Marcus Smith (Harlequins)*, Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors), Henry Trinder (Gloucester Rugby)*, Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

Forwards

Back five: Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks) *, Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Ellis (Bath Rugby) *, Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints), Nathan Hughes (Wasps) ** Tuesday, Joe Launchbury (Wasps) ** Thursday, Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby) *, Josh McNally (London Irish)*, Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) Jono Ross (Sale Sharks)*,Elliott Stooke (Bath Rugby) *, Mark Wilson (Newcastle)

Front row: Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Paul Hill (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), George McGuigan (Leicester Tigers)*, Nick Schonert (Worcester Warriors) *, Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Jack Singleton (Worcester Warriors) *

* Uncapped players

** Arrival into camp