Three Northampton Saints have been named by England head coach Eddie Jones in his squad to begin preparations for the first match of the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations – including uncapped back Harry Mallinder.
The 21-year-old, who travelled on England’s tour of Argentina in June but was not capped, joins England skipper Dylan Hartley and second-row Courtney Lawes in Jones’ ranks as they prepare to face Italy in Rome on February 4th.
Mallinder also skippered England to a sensational World Rugby Under-20 Championship triumph during the summer of 2016, scoring 23 points in the final.
Following this weekend’s club fixtures, 35 players will travel to Portugal for a week-long training camp before reconvening at England base Pennyhill Park ahead of the tournament opener.
Jones has selected eight uncapped players while there are 898 caps between the other 27 players in the squad.
Saints fly-half Piers Francis was unavailable for selection as he continues to recover from a head injury that has kept him out of Northampton’s last two victories over Gloucester Rugby and ASM Clermont Auvergne.
Eddie Jones said: “I have selected the strongest available squad to prepare for our opening match against Italy.
“It is important we start the tournament well, and we will spend the next two weeks training smart and really fine-tuning our game plan for the Italy match next month.
“I am expecting a really positive training camp in Portugal and while we have a few players unavailable through injury or suspension, it has provided opportunity for others who will be desperate to be involved in the Italy game.”
FULL ENGLAND SQUAD
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)
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 Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
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 **
