England team announcement LIVE: Eddie Jones names side to face Georgia in Autumn Nations cup
Follow the latest updates from Jones’s press conference as he names his side to face Georgia
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Your support makes all the difference.Follow the latest updates live from Eddie Jones’s press conference as he names his England squad for their opening Autumn Nations Cup clash against Georgia.
The newest tournament on the international stage gets under way this weekend as the Six Nations sides are joined by the Rugby Europe Championship winners as well as Fiji, with the action kicking off on Friday night as Ireland host a struggling Wales side, before Saturday’s fixtures include the first ever Test between England and Georgia outside of a World Cup at Twickenham.
Jones has stressed he will not be handing out caps for the sake of it, with a relatively full strength team expected from the Australian today, although Anthony Watson has been ruled out with an ankle injury. The team will be announced at 11am, with Jones set to speak 30 minutes later to explain his decisions. Follow the live updates below.
England team announcement
And that’s all from Eddie Jones today. Stay tuned to our rugby channels for all the latest from the England camp throughout the afternoon.
Jones: “The only thing we’ll experience is gratefulness. We’re so privileged to play in these circumstances now. I was looking at the stats around coronavirus this morning, over 50,000 deaths, 500 a day and 20,000 cases a day, and yet we’re still able to play rugby, so we’re very privileged to be able to play.”
Jones: “We need three jumpers and having Maro at six allows that.”
Jones: “We haven’t got great depth without Manu Tuilagi(at centre) so we’re looking to build depth there. Ollie Lawrence we hope will provide that as he’s got pace and power to play there.”
Jones: “We’ve got faith in Will (Stuart). He started the Six Nations off with us. We’ve got Kyle Sinckler who can come in and we believe Will can do a job on Saturday.”
England team announcement
Jones: “Willis has a good nose for the ball, he’s got good natural strength but he’s not a gym-strong type of player. It’s natural strength.”
England team announcement
Jones: "Selection is a constant action plan. We’re always looking to see how we can keep improving the side, improving the depth. With Jack Willis we’ve got an opportunity to increase the depth at seven and we want to see how he can perform at international level.
“He’s come into camp off the back of the Premiership final, and we’ve been able to rest Sam Underhill.”
England team announcement
Eddie Jones will be with us in just under five minutes’ time, with plenty to get our teeth into with the team he has selected this weekend.
Jones refers to a blend of experience and youth in his side, with the focus set to be on debutant Willis as well as first-time starters Stuart and Lawrence, while the presence of Malins among the replacements also provides plenty of intrigue.
England team announcement
Before Jones appears to speak with us, he’s spoken as part of the team announcement, in which he predicts a “tough” opener against Georgia and expresses how humbled the squad are to be able to play during the nation’s period of lockdown.
“We’ve had a really good week of training,” Jones said. “We know there are a lot of expectations on us and we’ve applied ourselves hard and put a lot of pressure on ourselves in the early part of this week.
“Georgia will be a tough opponent, so we have a team with some real power in midfield. We have a good mix of youth and experience across the squad and they are completely focused on putting in an excellent performance on Saturday.
“We’re looking forward to being back at our home at Twickenham, we are humbled by the opportunity and want to give people a reason to smile during such a tough time for the country.”
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