Six Bath Rugby players have been selected in Eddie Jones’ 34-man England squad for the 2020 Guinness Six Nations.
Tom Dunn, Charlie Ewels, Jonathan Joseph, Will Stuart, Sam Underhill and Anthony Watson will join up with the England squad, which includes 22 players who played at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan and eight uncapped players.
Of those uncapped players Dunn, Ben Earl and Ollie Thorley have been involved in previous England squads while Stuart, Fraser Dingwall, George Furbank, Alex Moon, and Jacob Umaga are called up for the first time.
In addition to the 34 players, Josh Hodge, who plays in the Greene King IPA Championship, and Alex Mitchell have been called up as apprentices and will only train with the squad.
Bath Rugby's Director of Rugby Stuart Hooper said: “We are immensely proud of our six players who have been included in the 2020 Guinness Six Nations squad for England. It is outstanding for them and for us and we will look forward to seeing them get out and perform.
“It’s great to see Charlie back in there after his World Cup disappointment – we knew he would be motivated by that to work hard, come back even stronger and really push for England inclusion.
“Will thoroughly deserves his spot in the squad after playing some phenomenal rugby in the Blue, Black and White. He is an outstanding young player and this is an exciting time for him to grab the opportunity to play for his country. Likewise for Tom it’s a chance to get his first cap and being in the mix alongside some experienced internationals will be another great experience for him.”
Joe Cokanasiga will miss out on the 2020 competition due to ongoing injury and will continue his rehab under the guidance of the Bath Rugby medical and performance teams.
Hooper added: “Obviously it is disappointing for Joe and for us that injury has prevented him being a part of this squad but we will keep working with him to get him back on the pitch.”
Jones said: “The Guinness Six Nations for us is all about raising the standards in terms of the way we prepare, tactically and physically how we play the game, and the way we come together off the field.
“But our first task is beating France in France and that is the only game we need to worry about. We will begin our preparations in Portugal, get a bit of sun, some warm conditions and get ourselves physically and mentally right for the game.
On his selection Jones said: “It is always about winning the next game so we have picked the best squad available. At the same time we wanted to bring some young players in because we need to keep building our depth so for those new players it is an exciting opportunity for them.”
England will assemble at Pennyhill Park on Wednesday and travel to Portugal on Thursday ahead of their first match against France in Paris on Sunday 2 February.
Last week Jones’ coaching staff were confirmed for the Guinness Six Nations with attack coach Simon Amor and forwards coach Matt Proudfoot joining defence coach John Mitchell and skills coach Steve Borthwick.
Forwards
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 21 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 19 caps)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby uncapped)
Ben Earl (Saracens, uncapped)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 12 caps)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 14 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 45 caps)
Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors, 1 cap)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 34 caps)
George Kruis (Saracens, 41 caps)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 62 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 81 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 68 caps)
Alex Moon (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 31 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 15 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 58 caps)
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)
Backs
Elliot Daly (Saracens, 39 caps)
Ollie Devoto (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 79 caps)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 65 caps)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby, 9 caps)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 47 caps)
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps)
Ollie Thorley (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped)
Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 40 caps)
Jacob Umaga (Wasps, uncapped)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 42 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 95 caps)
