Jones retains Chiefs quartet
By Mark Stevens
29/1/19
Four Exeter Chiefs players have been retained by England head coach Eddie Jones in a 25-man squad who will continue their preparations for their Guinness Six Nations match again Ireland in Dublin on Saturday (kick-off 4.45pm).
Forwards Luke Cowan-Dickie and Harry Williams, together with backs Jack Nowell and Henry Slade, will remain at England's training camp in Portugal, before they travel to Dublin ahead of Saturday's opener against the reigning champions.
Sadly, club-mates Ben Moon and Ollie Devoto have not been retained by Jones and they will return to Devon in the next 24 hours.
Earlier this week Jones claimed he had 80% of his squad already pencilled in for this year’s Rugby World Cup. However, he said the door was still open for players to claim their place.
England open their latest Six Nations campaign on Saturday, but the Aussie coach does not feel the results over the next two months will have a significant bearing on their World Cup campaign. Instead he has told his players to concentrate on the immediate challenge before thinking of Japan.
“I’ve been to four World Cups and the only thing that matters is how you are for the World Cup. How you are not doesn’t affect how you are in nine months’ time,” he said.
“What we’re aiming to be is at our best now for Ireland, that’s the only thing that concerns us. It’s not about making statements, it’s about playing against Ireland and then we’ll worry about the World Cup later.”
Jones also believes November’s Quilter Internationals proved there is still time for players to emerge from outside of the squad and stake a claim, including the likes of Chiefs prop Moon.
“I think I’ve probably got around 80% of my squad in place but they are not guaranteed World Cup places because it depends on their form and desire over the next eight or nine months,” he said.
“When you are selecting a World Cup squad you are looking for that remaining 20% to be quite fluid and I’m looking for guys to come in and put pressure on the guys ahead of them and that was the delightful thing for us in the autumn.
"We had players like Ben Moon, Mark Wilson and Joe Cokanasiga come out of the woodwork and now they’ve established real competition for the team and we want more of that.”
Meanwhile, Bath winger Cokanasiga and Wasps forward Brad Shields will remain with the squad to continue their reconditioning until Thursday. Worcester's Ben Te’o, who has a side strain, will also stay in camp while the team is in Portugal.
Forwards
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
Backs
Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Elliot Daly (Wasps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, capt)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Dan Robson (Wasps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)