Dylan Hartley left out of Eddie Jones’ squad for England’s Six Nations opener
Eddie Jones announced England's squad at a press conference at Twickenham today
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England’s co-captain, Dylan Hartley, has been left out of Eddie Jones’ squad for England’s Six Nations opener against Ireland on February 2.
The Northampton hooker has been strugglig with a knee injury and has not featured for his club for four weeks.
Four uncapped players - Ben Earl, Jack Singleton, Dan Robson and Ollie Thorley – have been called into the the 35-man squad, while prop Dan Cole has also been recalled.
Mako and Billy Vunipola and Joe Launchbury are all fit to be included, but Chris Robshaw and Jordan Joseph remain injury absentees.
England’s squad to face Ireland:
Forwards: Jack Clifford, Dan Cole, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Nathan Hughes, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Ben Moon, Brad Shields, Kyle Sinckler, Jack Singleton, Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola, Harry Williams, Mark Wilson
Backs: Chris Ashton, Mike Brown, Joe Cokanasiga, Elliot Daly, Ollie Devoto, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Jonny May, Jack Nowell, Dan Robson, Henry Slade, Ben Te’o, Ollie Thorley, Manu Tuilagi, Ben Youngs
Relive Eddie Jones’ press conference below.
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Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's England squad announcent as Eddie Jones names his players for the 2019 Six Nations.
We're set-up at Twickenham where Jones is due to name his side at 9:30am, before speaking to the media from 10am.
Follow everything he has to say, plus who's in and who's out, right here throughout the morning.
We're just five minutes away from the squad being announced, and it looks as though Eddie Jones has made a number of big calls here...
BREAKINGEngland's Six Nations squad
Forwards: Jack Clifford, Dan Cole, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Nathan Hughes, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Ben Moon, Brad Shields, Kyle Sinckler, Jack Singleton, Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola, Harry Williams, Mark Wilson.
Backs: Chris Ashton, Mike Brown, Joe Cokanasiga, Elliot Daly, Ollie Devoto, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Jonny May, Jack Nowell, Dan Robson, Henry Slade, Ben Te’o, Ollie Thorley, Manu Tuilagi, Ben Youngs.
The big news is that co-captain Dylan Hartley has not made the squad - and subsequently will miss the opening match against Ireland on 2 February - as he continues to struggle with the knee injury that has kept him sidelined since 21 December.
Addressing Hartley's absence, Eddie Jones said: “Unfortunately, Dylan won’t be available for the Ireland game so we won’t take him to Portugal but we are hopeful he will be back later in the Championship. Owen will be captain by himself and he will certainly have great support from a number of senior players.”
Along with Hartley, Danny Care and Alex Lozowski have missed out on selection, while Chris Robshaw, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson are all left out as they remain on the long-term injured list.
The surprise inclusions are many.
Ollie Devoto has come from nowhere to beat Lozowski to a place, with the Exeter Chiefs centre included among club teammate Henry Slade, Manu Tuilagi and Ben Te'o.
Just as suprising is the inclusion of Harlequins back-row Jack Clifford, who after two tortuous years of injury troubles is included alongside young Saracens flanker Ben Earl. With Billy Vunipola and Nathan Hughes also in the squad, both look to be competing as a flanker alongside Tom Curry and Mark Wilson.
The second-row department is as expected, with Joe Launchbury returning alongside Maro Itoje, George Kruis and Courtney Lawes, with Charlie Ewels missing out.
The front-row is as expected beyond the absence of Hartley, with Ben Moon preferred to Alec Hepburn to join the returning looseheads Mako Vunipola and Ellis Genge. Jamie George is joined at hooker by Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Singleton, while Dan Cole is back in favour alongside tighthead options Kyle Sinckler and Harry Williams.
Ben Youngs and Dan Robson are the two scrum-half options, with Danny Care missing out, while Farrell and George Ford compete for the No 10 shirt with Danny Cipriani still out of favour.
The back-three department sees Sale's Chris Ashton, Exeter's Jack Nowell, Bath's Joe Cokanasiga and Leicester's Jonny May joined by full-back options Elliot Daly and Mike Brown, who has forced his way back into contention.
Will be expecting Eddie Jones here in under 15 minutes to talk us through his selection decisions, as well as his expectations for the championship ahead.
Ahead of his arrival, here's what Jones said after naming his side:
“We are very happy with the squad and have a number of players who have come back from long-term injury. We are looking forward to getting across to Portugal and having a good ten-day preparation for the Ireland game."
“The first thing when we get together as a squad is to get our cohesion back. The players have been playing for their clubs with different styles and different playing philosophies, so it’s about getting them thinking about playing the England way. The second thing is to get our togetherness stronger to work as hard as we can to make sure we are well connected on and off the field so Portugal is an important camp for us.”
“Ireland are the best side in the world. They are a very well coached and drilled side and have particular things they do well in the game. To beat Ireland, we need to compete brutally in all the contest areas of the game.”
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