Skip to content
Menu
  • News
  • Rugby
  • Old Skool shoes
  • limerick gaa jerseys
  • f1 t shirt
oumea.com

Danny Cipriani in England frame for South Africa with Jones set to roll dice

Posted on March 6, 2019

Eddie Jones will on Thursday roll the dice and name an England squad missing 20 frontline players – including a number of British & Irish Test Lions – for the summer tour of South Africa.

Dylan Hartley, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson are among those already ruled out through injury – but including those Jones believes are in need of a rest it is understood he considers 20 players “unavailable”, such is the toll of a gruelling post-Lions season.

Jones has stressed the impact that the British & Irish Lions tour has had on his squad – 15 Englishmen toured New Zealand – though the absence, enforced or by design, of such a large number of players calls into question the relationship between club and country, and the workload placed on international players.

Andy Farrell signs extended Ireland deal to dampen England’s hopes


Indeed on Wednesday the Rugby Players’ Association board was due to discuss proposed changes to the season structure, thought to involve a two-week extension.

Nonetheless the 34-man squad will represent Jones’s boldest selection to date, despite England’s three‑match losing run and their worst Six Nations finish. Jones has acknowledged he should have freshened things up earlier and while he considers his hand forced to a degree, he will follow through with his squad for South Africa.

On top of the touring party for the three‑Test series against the Springboks, Jones will also unveil on Thursday Hartley’s replacement as captain as well as a 31-man squad for next week’s training camp in Brighton, which will be significantly different because of the absences of players from the four Premiership semi-finalists.

Jones will not rest his entire Lions contingent – Owen Farrell remains the favourite for the captaincy after he was rested during the autumn internationals and Mako Vunipola will also travel – but Dan Cole is among those expected to be omitted.

Eddie Jones needs fresh minds as well as fresh legs for England’s summer tour


The number of absences also opens the door for a host of fringe players to stake claims against South Africa while Billy Vunipola, despite his recent hamstring injury, is available to return to the international fold. He was absent from Saracens’ win against Gloucester last weekend and is yet to start for the club since breaking an arm in January, but the latest indications are that he will return for their Premiership semi‑final against Wasps.

Jones was also on Wednesday night mulling over a recall for Danny Cipriani, who has not played for England since 2015 but whose fine form towards the end of the season had brought him into the head coach’s thinking. Cipriani’s club future appears to hang on whether or not he is included. He is yet to announce where he will play next season after finishing the current campaign with Wasps but if Jones omits him again, he is expected to move abroad.

Jones was also set to make a call on the Hurricanes flanker Brad Shields, who last month lodged a request with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) to be released for the tour after the Guardian revealed he was eligible for selection in the eyes of the Rugby Football Union.

New Zealand are yet to publicly state whether they have accepted Shields’s request for release for the tour but it is understood NZR and the Rugby Football Union have been in talks.

The 31-man training squad will feature players from the eight Premiership clubs not involved in the playoffs; those from the losing semi-finalists will join the following week and come into contention to face the Barbarians on 27 May at Twickenham.

South Africa will face Wales in Washington DC on 2 June before the first Test against England a week later in Johannesburg but they will do so without their influential hooker Malcolm Marx, who has been ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring tear.

His absence is a bitter blow for the Springboks considering Marx was named South Africa’s player of the year in 2017 and has established himself as one of the world’s leading hookers.

Recent Posts

  • Rain Gauge: Measuring Precipitation for Weather and Climate Studies
  • Rain Gauge: A Comprehensive Overview of Its Design and Functionality
  • **How Is Dew Point Calculated**
  • How is Dew Point Calculated?
  • How is Dew Point Calculated?

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • April 2025
    • March 2025
    • February 2025
    • January 2025
    • December 2024
    • November 2024
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019

    Categories

    • News
    • Rugby

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
    ©2025 oumea.com | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes.com
    Menu
    • News
    • Rugby
    • Old Skool shoes
    • limerick gaa jerseys
    • f1 t shirt