Jack Nowell returns as one of two changes for Wales vs England clash
The wing returns to face Wales in Saturday's Six Nations Grand Slam eliminator
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Your support makes all the difference.Jack Nowell has been restored to the right wing for England's Guinness Six Nations title clash with Wales in place of the injured Chris Ashton.
Nowell excelled during the opening-weekend rout of Ireland but made way for Ashton against France and is now thrust back into the starting XV for a seismic showdown in Cardiff.
Supplying wing cover on the bench is Joe Cokanasiga, the marauding Bath threequarter who is poised to win his third cap after recovering from a knee injury.
When does it start?
Wales vs England kicks off at 4:45pm on Saturday 23 February.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on BBC One from 4:15pm.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's England squad announcement as Eddie Jones names his side that will face Wales on Saturday.
We'll have the breaking news of the team announcement for you at 10:30am, but before then we'll take a look at the game itself as well as the big selection decisions that Jones has on his hands this week.
We’re about an hour away from the squad being revealed, so let’s look at the big conundrums for Jones to resolve this week:
Loosehead prop: Mako Vunipola has been England’s standout player of the autumn so far, so his loss to an ankle injury in a massive blow to their hopes ahead of the trip to Cardiff. Jones has stuck with Ben Moon after his rapid rise to prominence within this squad, while Ellis Genge has been called back into the squad to fill the void left by Vunipola. But who starts? Given Moon was on the bench for the victory over France last time out, you’d expect the Exeter prop to start and Leicester’s Genge to come on to make an impact, but with Jones’ selections you never know.
Centre: Will Manu Tuilagi retain his place? The prospect of the wrecking-ball centre being dropped does seem somewhat farfetched, but given Jones wanted to start with Ben Te’o in their opening match against Ireland before he suffered injury, he could choose to bring Te’o back in the squad.
Wing: Jack Nowell looks the likely candidate to come in to the side in place of Chris Ashton, who misses this week’s clash with a calf injury. But Jones also has Joe Cokanasiga to choose from and after his impressive impact last autumn, he could bring the Bath wing back into the starting line-up.
Bench: If selection goes as planned, it looks like a straight shootout between Te’o and Cokanasiga for the final place on the bench. Te’o would provide cover for Tuilagi and Henry Slade in the centre, but it would leave England exposed in the back-three and would require Slade to cover full-back with Daly covering the wing. Cokanasiga seems to make more sense as he can come onto the wing, allowing Jack Nowell to cover 12 and George Ford to cover 12 by way of shifting Owen Farrell to the centres.
Half an hour to go until the squad is named, which you can find out here as soon as it lands. Will we have any surprises?
Then Jones will speak to the media from 11am, and you can guarantee there'll be plenty of talk about his selection, 'hatred' and the dreaded roof debate.
BreakingEngland team to face Wales:
Elliot Daly; Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, Manu Tuilagi, Jonny May; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Ben Moon, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler; Courtney Lawes, George Kruis; Mark Wilson, Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Harry Williams, Joe Launchbury, Brad Shields, Dan Robson, George Ford, Joe Cokanasiga.
Eddie Jones makes two changes as Ben Moon and Jack Nowell both come into the starting line-up in place of the injured Mako Vunipola and Chris Ashton.
On the bench, there are four further changes as Ellis Genge, Harry Williams, Brad Shields and Joe Cokanasiga come in, with Nathan Hughes, Dan Cole and Ben Te'o missing out.
Jones has not held back in his assessment of how big the match is either, firing a shot at the Welsh for what will be "the biggest game they've played in".
“England and Wales is always a big game," said Jones.
"Intense rivals and there is the historical context to it, but for us it is our most important game because it is our next game and that is how we are treating it.
“As you have read in the media, it’s all about Wales, we are playing potentially the greatest team ever. Their players are full of emotion and it’s the biggest game they are going to play in their lives. We have had a good week just focussing on ourselves and focussing on getting our preparation right.”
On his selection decisions, Eddie Jones has added: “Ben Moon will start and Ellis Genge will finish so we will get a great 80 minutes out of those two. It is disappointing to lose a player of the calibre of Mako Vunipola but we have two very good players who will do a great job for us.
“Jack Nowell will start and Joe Cokanasiga will come onto the bench. As we saw in the autumn Joe is a player of great potential so we are looking forward to him adding to the squad.
“Brad Shields comes in for Nathan Hughes as a finisher as we just feel like it is going to be a high work-rate game.”
We'll be speaking to the England boss in around 10 minutes' time.
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