Five Chiefs named in England squad

By Mark Stevens
18/1/22

Eddie Jones has named five Exeter Chiefs players in his 36-man England squad to begin preparations for the Guinness Six Nations.

Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jonny Hill, Jack Nowell, Sam Simmonds and Henry Slade will all meet in Brighton on Monday for a five-day training camp.

They will then regroup at Pennyhill Park, Bagshot ahead of their first game, against Scotland, at Murrayfield on Saturday, February 5.

Aside from Nowell - who returns to the international fold for the first time since the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019 - the remaining Chiefs all featured for England during their Autumn Nations Series campaign.

There are six uncapped players included in the squad – Orlando Bailey, Alfie Barbeary, Ollie Chessum, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Luke Northmore.

Owen Farrell will captain England, while team vice captains will be announced ahead of each match.

Following the Scotland game, England will travel to Rome to play Italy on Sunday, February 13.

Jones’ side will then return to England for home games at Twickenham Stadium against Wales (Saturday, February 26) and Ireland (Saturday, March 12), before finishing the campaign in Paris against France on Saturday, March 19.

Jones said: “Selecting this squad has been a difficult task, we’ve got plenty of good young players coming through and some of our more experienced are rediscovering their best form.

“We think this 36 for the first training week reflects a good balance of that experience and up-and-coming talent. In Brighton we’ll focus on getting the fundamentals of our game in play right and developing the cohesion of the team. The Six Nations is going to be the most competitive we’ve ever seen. All the countries performed well in the autumn, so we need to be at our best and improve with every game.”

All of England’s matches are on ITV, except for Scotland v England which is on BBC. Radio commentary for all games will be on BBC Radio 5 Live.

ENGLAND TRAINING SQUAD FOR 2022 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

FORWARDS

Alfie Barbeary (Wasps, uncapped)
Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons, 5 caps)
Ollie Chessum, Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 31 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 36 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 4 caps)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 26 caps)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 31 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 61 caps)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 12 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 51 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 90 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 10 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 74 caps)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 47 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 15 caps)

BACKS

Mark Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby, 1 cap)
Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 94 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, uncapped)
Max Malins (Saracens, 10 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 7 caps)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 69 caps)
Luke Northmore (Harlequins, uncapped)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 34 caps)
Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 2 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 43 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 5 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 5 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 112 caps)