Slater and Burrell in, Lawes and Yarde out as Jones reinforces England squad ahead of Six Nations clash with Wales
England head coach Eddie Jones has reinforced his training squad ahead of Saturday’s likely Six Nations title decider against Wales at Twickenham by calling up Leicester forward Ed Slater and Northampton back Luther Burrell.
Slater has replaced fellow lock Courtney Lawes after he suffered an ankle injury during the first half of Northampton’s victory over defending Premiership champions Saracens on Saturday.
Lawes’s Northampton team-mate Burrell has been brought back into the fold at the expense of wing Marland Yarde, who injured his shoulder playing for Harlequins against Bath at the weekend.
Bath centre Ollie Devoto has recovered from concussion and has supplanted Exeter’s Sam Hill, while centre Manu Tuilagi was among the 33 players who assembled at Pennyhill Park yesterday.
Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill, meanwhile, reiterated his belief that Tuilagi, who has not played for England since June 2014, is not ready to resume his international career.
Cockerill’s assertion followed Tuilagi scoring his first Leicester try in nearly two years as the Tigers beat Exeter 31-27 yesterday.
“Manu did some good things but I don’t think he is ready to play Test rugby,” said Cockerill. “Even if you put him on the bench to be an impact player for the last half an hour, what happens if you have to put him on after five minutes?”