On Thursday morning Eddie Jones announced his England squad that will prepare to take on Italy on the opening weekend the 2018 Six Nations tournament. With 13 players unavailable due to injury or disciplinary reasons England's head coach's hand has been forced somewhat in certain areas and as a result eight uncapped players are part of the 35-man training group.
"This is version 26. I was still on it at 10.30pm last night. Finalising it. It has been one of the most difficult to put together because of the various situations with players. I’m really happy with it, excited by our prospects of doing well particularly as been written off. No-one thinks we can win the Six Nations so we have got an opportunity to hunt the other teams down."
Written off is perhaps a strong way of putting it however there's no question that England's challenge to secure a third Six Nations Championship in a row has been made more difficult by the extensive list of players that are unavailable to Eddie Jones. That said the depth of talent in English rugby is strong, it was one of the reasons why the 57-year-old took the job in the first place, and it has been showcased over the course of his tenure. England's tour to Argentina was a clear example over the coming two months it must be clearly illustrated once again with the likes of Lewis Boyce, Alec Hepburn and Zach Mercer all having to step up to the mark.
When it comes to Bath Rugby's forward Eddie Jones was clear that he would have liked the 20-year-old to have had a longer apprenticeship than the one that he has been afforded. However the situation is such that Mercer must be thrust into the selection frame and 'could certainly get an opportunity during the Six Nations.' Bath's form of late has been undulating however Mercer's contributions have been consistent, marked and impressive. I love the way that he has stepped into the Bath side at such a young age and taken it all in his stride and I just hope that the young talent isn't overcome physically by those that he may encounter at Test level, the likes of CJ Stander, Sergio Parisse etc.
This weekend the final round of the Champions Cup arrives in town and Eddie Jones is unconcerned by the fact that the many of the English clubs aren't in the best position when it comes to qualifying for the knockout stage. Not for the first time he made the point that club rugby and international rugby are different and that that clubs' success doesn't not overly impact on him.
"Not at all [concerned]. Because it doesn't affect international form. There's a distinct difference between club rugby and international rugby. Whilst you always like your players to win, if they’re not successful at club level it doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful at international level."
The road to success this this Six Nations starts with their camp in Portugal and the start of that camp will be a 'fairly untraditional for us'. Eddie Jones is going to treat it as a mini pre-season and then commence team training on the Thursday of that first week with all eyes on Italy. Why? That's all with Rugby World Cup 2019 in mind and is part of balancing short-term goals with that longer term picture. When I asked England's head coach what exactly what he was expecting from Italy he answered with a glint in his eye, clearly remembering back to last year's 'different' encounter at Twickenham Stadium.
"They're a well-coached side, Conor O'Shea and Brendan Venter have done a good job. They played much better rugby in November and have discovered some good new talent. They've still got their iconic players in Sergio Parisse and Canna, their young No 10, has been playing some good rugby.
"If you look at their last game against South Africa, at the 20-minute mark they were 7-6 down and they had South Africa under pressure. They weren't able to sustain that but again they're having more control over their players so I would think that for the Six Nations they're going to be fitter, which has traditionally been one of their problems. It's going to be a tough old game."
A tough old game it will be and on the horizon is a Six Nations Championship that, in some areas, will stretch England's squad depth to the max. However, that will be of benefit when it comes to their ultimate goal and as England's head coach says it's better to have an injury run like this now than in 2019.
Players unavailable
England Squad for Italy
Backs
Full backs
Full backs
Mike Brown (Harlequins), Nathan Earle (Saracens) *, Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints) *, Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Inside backs
Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors), Marcus Smith (Harlequins) * **, Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Forwards
Forwards
Back five
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) *, Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby) *, Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Front row
Lewis Boyce (Harlequins) *, Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby) *, Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs) *, Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
Players unavailable
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby), Piers Francis (Northampton Saints), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), James Haskell (Wasps), Nathan Hughes (Wasps), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Beno Obano (Bath Rugby), Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby), Will Spencer (Worcester Warriors), Billy Vunipola (Saracens).
Uncapped *
Apprentice player **
