England head coach Eddie Jones calls up wing Semesa Rokoduguni as Six Nations cover for Chris Ashton
England head coach Eddie Jones last night summoned Bath wing Semesa Rokoduguni to join his Six Nations squad as cover for Saracens counterpart Chris Ashton.
Sarries have until this afternoon to decide whether to appeal the 10-week ban dished out to Ashton for making contact with the eye of Ulster centre Luke Marshall in a European clash last weekend.
Should his club side decline the chance to take further action or any such appeal fails, Rokoduguni would compete with Anthony Watson, Jack Nowell and Marland Yarde for one of England’s two wing spots.
Fiji-born Rokoduguni has a solitary cap to his name, but fell out of favour with Jones’ predecessor Stuart Lancaster following his international debut against New Zealand in the autumn of 2014.
Jones, meanwhile, is expected to install controversial Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley as England’s new skipper today. If appointed, Hartley will take over from Chris Robshaw, who led England during their ill-fated World Cup campaign.
Aside from the Leicester contingent in the squad, who are set to arrive this morning following their European tussle against Stade Francais in Paris, England’s players met up last night at their Surrey training base at Pennyhill Park.
“We’ll have a small chat about where we need to go and then we’ll just get on with it. We’re not going to talk too much, we’re going to do,” said Australian Jones, who was appointed as England’s first foreign coach in November.
“There are some clear things we need to address in the team, areas of how we want to play, how we want to operate, but it won’t be a grand address. I’m too old for powerpoints. It will be whiteboard.”