Prop Joe Marler has come out of retirement to be included in England’s Rugby World Cup training squad, while fly-half Danny Cipriani has retained his place despite another shake-up of personnel by head coach Eddie Jones.
Harlequins forward Marler, 28, retired from international rugby last September citing personal reasons, but has reversed his decision in time to make a bid for a place in the final squad that will head to Japan in September.
Jones has also included four uncapped players — Willi Heinz, Lewis Ludlam, Ruaridh McConnochie and Jack Singleton — in the 35-man group, and said Marler’s
but there were also notable absentees in the experienced Harlequins trio Danny Care, Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown.
The latest squad included players from Premiership finalists Saracens and Exeter, with another three of those – George Kruis, Jack Nowell and Mako Vunipola – not included while they continue their recovery from injury.
“We can’t wait to have the full squad in place and to have players competing for those 31 places,” Jones said. “It is a process of building the team up, building the cohesion, the tactical understanding of the team and our adaptability. We will need to get those things right to win the World Cup, and that is our aim.
“World Cup selection is a four-year process. We have looked at the squad carefully, tried to build up a squad that has enough experience, attitude and energy to be winners and I think we have that. In the process, we have left out some players who can feel unlucky.”
England will play four warm-up games – home and away to Wales and home games against Ireland and Italy before the World Cup in Japan in September.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.