‘He is back to his best… he has to start for England’- Jones’ strange omission
As always, Eddie Jones’ 36-man England squad threw up a few surprises when it was announced on Monday, not least in the No13 jersey.
Then again, with the likes of Elliot Daly, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Joe Marchant and Luke Northmore, more than one of them were going to miss out. However, not many expected all of them to miss out on the squad.
Instead, Jones went for Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Will Joseph and Guy Porter as his centres in his squad, who will face Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.
What makes the omissions strange is that some of those players are in the form of their careers at the moment, none more so than Daly, who is as the heartbeat of a Saracens side that are playing some brilliant rugby. Such was his form that many people thought it was a formality that he would return to the England set up after missing out on their series win over Australia in July. Austin Healey was one of those that was full of praise for the five-cap British & Irish Lion following his display in Saracens’ victory over Bath at the weekend. When looking at his highlights, alongside what Healey said, it makes it all the stranger that he missed out. Take a look:
“Daly is in the form of his life. He’s back to his absolute his best.”
Austin Healey is liking the look of a centre combination of Manu Tuilagi and Elliot Daly for England in the autumn internationals.#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/CK04uFp5ER
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) October 16, 2022
England Squad
Forwards
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Luke Cowan-Dickie
Tom Curry
Ellis Genge
Joe Heyes
Jonny Hill
Maro Itoje
Courtney Lawes
Lewis Ludlam
George McGuigan (Newcastle Falcons, uncapped)
Val Rapava Ruskin (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Bevan Rodd
Sam Simmonds
Kyle Sinckler
Jack Singleton
Hugh Tizard (Saracens, uncapped)
Billy Vunipola
Mako Vunipola
Jack Willis
Backs
Henry Arundell
Joe Cokanasiga
Owen Farrell
Max Malins
George Furbank
Will Joseph
Jonny May
Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
Jack Nowell
Guy Porter
Raffi Quirke
Marcus Smith
Freddie Steward
Manu Tuilagi
Jack van Poortlviet
Ben Youngs
