Eddie Jones has named the England squad for the 2016 Six Nations and the former Japan coach has kicked off his England tenure by ringing the changes in comparison to the squad that Stuart Lancaster brought to the World Cup.
Out go the likes of Tom Youngs, Tom Wood, Geoff Parling and Danny Cipriani and in comes a host of new faces with seven players being called up for the first time.
Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks), Jack Clifford (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby), Sam Hill (Exeter Chiefs), Paul Hill, (Northampton Saints) and Maro Itoje (Saracens) are the rookie call-ups with the bad boys of the Lancaster era also back in contention.
Both Chris Ashton and Dylan Hartley are in the squad while Manu Tuilagi will not be available for the Scotland game on February 6th but he will be available for selection after that provided he can prove his fitness.
One of the big takeaways from the announcement is that Jones has named just two tens and two nines in the form of Owen Farrell, George Ford, Danny Care and Ben Youngs.
England squad for Six Nations:
Here it is! Eddie Jones' first England squad. What do you make of it? https://t.co/g75HPlJWMr #carrythemhome 🌹 pic.twitter.com/741dGrrDZR
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) January 13, 2016
Here's what Eddie Jones has had to say about his first squad.
We see these players growing into England players of the future and developing into a side who can be the best in the world. Our aim is to develop a squad where there is depth and competition in every position.
I have spoken to some of the players who have not been selected. Naturally they will be disappointed and that is how it should be.
They know what they need to do to get back into this squad. The door is not shut for anyone. There is no such thing as a shut door because of injuries and loss of form. There will always be opportunities to anyone playing consistently well in the Premiership and Europe.
We will be without Manu Tuilagi for the Scotland game but we will continue to work with Leicester Tigers and Manu and see where he is as the Six Nations progresses. With big European weekends ahead there may be further changes once we assess the fitness of the players.
Although Dylan Hartley is widely tipped to be in line to take over from Chris Robshaw, Jones has yet to name his captain.
